On the morning of April 25, 2005, a "rapid service" (express) commuter train derailed along a curve between Tsukaguchi and Amagasaki stations on the West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in Hyogo Prefecture, slamming into a nine-story condominium building near the tracks. The accident killed 106 passengers plus the driver, Ryujiro Takami, 23; 555 others were injured in the worst railway accident since Japanese National Railways privatized in April 1987.
A draft report made public by the transport ministry's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission said the principal cause of the accident was excessive speed. More importantly, the investigation panel referred to the heavy pressure that JR West's railway operations and labor management had exerted on the driver, a factor thought to have affected his behavior on the day of the accident. The company's lax attitude in ensuring maximum safety and its failure to improve rail safety equipment before the accident are also cited.
The train, bound from Takarazuka to Doshisha-Mae via Amagasaki, left Itami Station 10 seconds after 9:16 a.m. -- 1 minute 20 seconds behind schedule because the driver Takami had to back up the train after he overran the normal stopping point at the Itami platform by about 72 meters.