East Japan Railway Co. will start operating security cameras next Monday evening on some Saikyo Line trains in an effort to prevent groping.
High-definition security cameras will be installed in the No. 1 cars of some trains on the line linking Tokyo and Saitama Prefecture, the first time such equipment has been installed on commuter trains.
JR East announced earlier this month that it was planning to start conducting video surveillance on the Saikyo Line on a trial basis in the hope that the cameras provide evidence of and serve as a deterrent to groping.
The decision to install the cameras came at the request of police because there has been no letup in groping incidents on trains, although critics have questioned the effectiveness of the cameras and raised privacy concerns.
Metropolitan Police Department data show that the number of groping cases on trains handled by the police total around 1,500 a year. In the first half of 2009, there were 708 groping cases reported, of which 75, or about 10 percent, occurred on the Saikyo Line.
Most incidents occurred in the No. 1 cars.
JR East will start the trial by installing cameras in the ceiling near the driver's cabin. It will increase the number of trains equipped with cameras in late January and plans eventually to record footage from four points in each car.