OSAKA (Kyodo) A Kintetsu train driver overslept at Kintetsu Ikoma Station in Nara Prefecture on Wednesday, forcing the suspension of five runs, the railway said.

The 33-year-old motorman, whose name is being withheld, was supposed to drive a train scheduled to depart at 6:03 a.m. He decided to sleep at the station after working until midnight the previous night but forgot to set an alarm clock, the railway said.

About 1,000 passengers were affected by the delay, the railway said.

Usually, other staff from the station and the railway's local office are supposed to call to make sure the driver is awake in the morning. But both neglected to do so that day, the railway said.