The driver of the commuter train that crashed into a building in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, in 2005, killing him and 106 passengers, was worried about the conductor's radio call to the control center and applied the brakes too late as the train took a sharp curve too fast, a government panel said in a report released Thursday.
The final report on the accident, compiled by the government's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission, also blamed West Japan Railway Co. for the accident, citing its punitive re-education program for train drivers who committed mistakes such as overruns leading to schedule delays.
The commission, under the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry, attached an opinion in the report urging JR West to give more practical training to improve drivers' skills and to place priority on safety when setting train schedules.