The driver of a Shinkansen bullet train left the cockpit to use the bathroom while the train was running at 150 kph with some 160 passengers on board, Central Japan Railway Co. said Thursday.
The 36-year-old driver was out of the Hikari No. 633 train's cockpit for around three minutes after asking a conductor to take his place during his absence at around 8:15 a.m. on Sunday, with the train traveling between Atami Station and Mishima Station in Shizuoka Prefecture, said the operator known as JR Central.
The conductor, also 36, was not licensed to drive the bullet train.