A railroad passenger car ran 8.5 km unattended early Sunday on the JR Meisho Line in Mie Prefecture, but no accidents or injuries were reported, officials of Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) said.
The diesel-powered car was parked at Ieki Station between Matsuzaka and Ise Okutsu at around 10:30 p.m. Saturday, but the driver apparently failed to set the brake properly.
The car began rolling on a gentle downhill portion of the line sometime after midnight and continued for 20 minutes, passing three stations and 23 crossings, ending up in the town of Ichishi.
The car probably ran at an average speed of about 25 kph. It must have activated the gate arms and alarms at each crossing it passed, the officials said.
There were no signs of the car striking anything else, they said.
An area resident found the stray car at around 1 a.m. Sunday and reported it to JR Tokai. It was taken back to Ieki Station and there were no disruptions in railway operations Sunday.