Snake spotted inside bullet train in Japan, service delayed by 17 minutes

A passenger spotted a 40-centimetre (nearly 16-inch) snake lurking on a train from Nagoya to Tokyo in Japan on Tuesday, resulting in a 17-minute hold-up. It was unclear how the cold-blooded commuter ended up on the train. However, there was no injury or panic among passengers, a spokesman for Central Japan Railway Company told AFP.
“It’s difficult to imagine wild snakes somehow climbing onto the train at one of the stations. We have rules against bringing snakes into the Shinkansen,” the spokesman said.
“But we don’t check passengers’ baggage,” he added.
Japan Today reported that a staff member of Central Japan Railway Company captured the snake afterwards and handed it to local authorities. The snake was found in car no. 6 of the 16-car train.
The railway operator is investigating the matter, the report said.
The train was originally scheduled to go to Osaka. However, following the incident, the company decided to use a different train, causing a delay of about 17 minutes, the spokesperson told AFP.
Security inside bullet trains in Japan was scaled up following the stabbing incident in 2018 inside a Shinkansen train. The train carried more than 800 passengers at the time of the incident. Japanese authorities also sentenced a man to life imprisonment in connection with the incident.
Security was also increased inside Japan’s trains in connection with the Summer Olympics in 2021 and the Group of Seven meetings last year.
Launched in 1964, the Shinkansen train network in Japan has never suffered any accident resulting in passenger fatalities or injuries, Japan Railways said.
(With inputs from AFP)