It has been 31 days since the incident in which 17 people were injured when a passenger was cut and set on fire on the Keio Line.
Railway companies are taking new measures such as installing security cameras and strengthening security, but they are still looking for ways to protect the safety of passengers from attacks on trains.
On October 31, last year, in an incident in which a passenger on the Keio Line running in Chofu City, Tokyo, was slashed and set on fire, a man in his 70s temporarily became unconscious and inhaled smoke.16 people. I was injured.
According to investigative sources, unemployed Kyota Hattori, 25, who has been accused of attempted murder and arson, said in response to the investigation, "I thought passengers wouldn't be able to escape if they were on the train. It is said that he stated that he was aiming for the day.
In this incident, although multiple "emergency call devices" were activated, the conductor and driver could not immediately grasp the situation, and the train stopped at a position where the platform door and the train door were not aligned. It became a situation to evacuate from.
In response to the incident, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced measures to enhance equipment such as security cameras to grasp the situation inside the train, and to open both doors if the platform door and the train door were misaligned and stopped. In addition, guidelines have been established to display the functions and usage of emergency equipment in an easy-to-understand manner.
On the other hand, although the government announced a policy to obligate the installation of security cameras in newly introduced vehicles, there were voices complaining about the cost burden and doubts about the effectiveness in the study group of the government and experts. I'm having trouble.
In August last year, a passenger was attacked on a train on the Odakyu Line while it was running, and in November last year, an attempted arson incident occurred on the Kyushu Shinkansen. However, how to protect passengers is an issue.
Keio Electric Railway Promoting installation of security cameras in trains
In response to the incident, Keio Electric Railway has been strengthening safety measures.
One of them is security cameras, and the installation rate in trains increased from 17% in October last year to 37% as of this month.
Before the incident, all of them were "recording type", but high-performance security cameras that can share the situation inside the car in real time with the headquarters and the command center have been installed in 180 cars.
By the end of next fiscal year, we are aiming to install them in all trains and all 69 stations.
In addition, from May this year, we will install a new small camera on the ticket gate, platform, and on the chest of the security guard who is vigilant in the train, and we are also taking measures to record images in case of emergency.
In addition, from the 24th of this month to the 11th of next month, security and awareness activities are being strengthened, and the crisis management level will be set to "high alert" for three days until the 31st, when the number of people along the line is expected to increase, especially for Halloween. We are urging people to pull up and not to board in costumes that may make other passengers feel uneasy.
Takeo Shigeoka, head of the railway terrorism and disaster countermeasures section of Keio Corporation, said, "Since there is no such thing as 'the end' of safety measures, we will work on what we feel is necessary while looking at the usage situation and thoroughly implement safety measures. I want to continue," he said.
Strengthening safety measures, but there are also difficulties
While railway companies other than Keio Corporation are striving to strengthen safety measures, they are also facing difficulties.
Among them, the "Saitama High-speed Railway", which connects Saitama Prefecture and Kita Ward, Tokyo, which is about 15 km long, has accelerated the original plan in response to a series of incidents and installed 240 recording type security cameras in all 60 cars. deployed.
On the other hand, in the incident on the Keio Line, passengers operated the door cock to manually open the door in an emergency. As a result, evacuation guidance and handling of door cocks became issues.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism has formulated guidelines for displaying how to use emergency equipment in an easy-to-understand manner, and has shown the idea that door cocks should be used by crew members in principle.
Almost all sections of the Saitama High-speed Railway run in underground tunnels, so if the door cock is used to make an emergency stop between stations, the secondary risk of exiting the train underground and speed As a general rule, the staff will operate it because there is a risk of damage expansion due to the inability to carry out rescue activities.
On the other hand, since all trains are operated by one man and there is no crew other than the driver in the train, it is difficult to see how far we can ensure that passengers do not use the door cock during train operation in the event of confusion. increase.
Shiro Ikeda, General Manager of Saitama Rapid Railway, said, "Actually handling is difficult, but in principle, we believe that it will lead to ensuring safety if you move under the direction of the staff.In response to the incident on the Keio Line, that I once again realized that such an incident could occur, so I always consider how to respond as an issue."