TOKYO (Jan 16): A railway power outage in Tokyo disrupted the morning commute for roughly 673,000 passengers on Friday, as two main lines servicing some of the world's busiest stations were halted. Trains on East Japan Railway's (JR East) Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines were halted for up to nine hours on Friday, the railway operator said. JR East said a failure to restore power after overnight maintenance work at Tokyo's Tamachi Station left both lines without electricity early Friday. Passengers were seen disembarking from a Keihin-Tohoku train stranded between stations and walking along the tracks to evacuate, assisted by firefighters and railway staff. The Yamanote Line passes through stations including Shinjuku, which handles about 3.5 million passengers daily.

Source: The Edge Markets January 16, 2026 08:21 UTC