AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Each morning, express trains roar past houses and businesses along the JR Fukuchiyama Line, carrying passengers to and from work in Amagasaki and Kobe, or classes at Doshisha University's Kyotanabe campus in Kyoto Prefecture.
For years, those living along the line thought little of the speeding trains. But following last April's crash of a speeding commuter train into a high-rise near Amagasaki Station that killed 107 people and injured nearly 550, many now say their hearts skip a beat when trains go by.
"I get especially tense if it sounds as if the train is moving extremely fast, or if I hear a screech of the brakes," said Takekazu Kashiwagi, an Amagasaki resident who lives about 200 meters from the tracks. "Most people around here wonder just how safe it is to live so close to the tracks, especially with the fast express trains."