The Tokyo District Court ordered Odakyu Electric Railway Co. on Tuesday to pay ¥11.52 million in damages to 42 people for noise caused by its trains on an elevated section in Tokyo but rejected residents' demands for an injunction to stop the noise.
The rare decision awarding damages for conventional train noise could compel railways to take additional measures to abate noise caused by surface or elevated lines in big cities.
The noise, coming from a four-track section between Yoyogi-Uehara and Kitami stations on the Odakyu Odawara Line, made the residents "suffer damage exceeding tolerable levels," presiding Judge Masatoshi Murakami said.