Railway firms including East Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co. experienced a technical glitch with their ticketing system Monday morning for nearly five hours that prevented credit card purchases, their ticketing system management company said.
Cash purchases and Central Japan Railway Co.'s "Smart EX" online shinkansen reservation service were unaffected, according to Railway Information Systems Co.
The glitch occurred around 4 a.m., when ticketing machines and counters opened, but was fixed at around 8:40 a.m., the company said. The cause of the trouble was not yet known.