Ten Hokuriku bullet trains with 12 cars each will be scrapped because of severe damage from flooding during Typhoon Hagibis last month.
Of the 10 trains, eight were owned by East Japan Railway Co. and the other two by West Japan Railway Co.
At a news conference Wednesday, JR East President Yuji Fukasawa said the railway would replace all of the flooded trains and study whether any parts can be reused. Most of their ¥11.8 billion book value will likely be written off as a special loss for the year through March 2020.
JR West has meanwhile decided to book a similar special loss of about ¥3 billion for the year.
The trains, which account for a third of all trains in service on the line, were parked in a train yard in the city of Nagano when the typhoon hit. A local flood-hazard map noted the yard was at risk of flooding.
At the news conference, Fukasawa said JR East will consider what measures to take with regards to the yard but said the trains would be a loss.
“We’ve decided, in terms of stability and safety, that it is appropriate” to scrap the trains and introduce new ones, Fukasawa said. “We aim to restore 100 percent services by the end of the current business year,” he said.
Shinkansen cars cost about ¥300 million to make, company officials said.
Services on the Hokuriku bullet train line between Tokyo and Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, were fully restored on Oct. 25, nearly two weeks after the typhoon. It is operating at around 80 percent of its former schedule.
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