A rapid-service train collided Monday night with a snowplow working on the railway line at JR Furano Station in Hokkaido, causing minor injuries to 12 people, Hokkaido Railway Co. and Furano police said Tuesday.
All 12 passengers on board the train and three workers on the snowplow were taken to a hospital, of which nine passengers and the workers suffered slight injuries such as bruises, according to the police and JR Hokkaido.
The crash, involving a one-carriage train traveling from Takikawa to Shintoku, occurred at around 9:40 p.m. on the JR Nemuro line in Hinode-machi, about 200 meters from the station platform.
"I saw a light ahead and put on the brakes, but it was too late," said the train driver, whose name was not released and was unhurt.
According to JR Hokkaido, the snowplow operators drove onto the rail line just before the train arrived.
The train was traveling at about 40 kph when it crashed into the snowplow. Neither the train nor the snowplow derailed.
Four trains runs, including the one involved in the crash, were canceled after the accident. JR Hokkaido terminated services between Takikawa and Shintoku stations on Tuesday morning and was running bus services instead.
The Transport Safety Board dispatched two investigators to the site Tuesday, who started interviewing station staff.
