West Japan Railway Co. said Wednesday it will add 21 seconds to its average rush hour journey after tight timetables and speeding were blamed for a derailment that killed 107 people last year.
The new timetable, which takes effect next month, adds an average of 21 seconds to rush hour express train journeys and 16 seconds to off-peak services between the cities of Takarazuka and Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, JR West spokesman Norio Kitamura said.
"The change may sound insignificant but it means a lot for train drivers, who are used to operating by the second." The journey between the two cities, some 20 km apart, now takes an average 20 minutes and 21 seconds.
An express train on the line between the cities jumped its tracks during the morning rush hour on April 25 last year, barreling into an apartment building and killing 107 in Japan's worst train accident since 1963.
Investigators believe the driver, who was among the dead, was operating well above the speed limit to make up for lost time. JR West has acknowledged that psychological pressure to keep to a strict timetable might have contributed to the accident.
In an initial response to the accident, the carrier has already taken the unprecedented step of adding a minute to the journey between the two cities.