On the 2nd of this month, engine oil leaked from an inspection vehicle near Fukushima Station on the Tohoku Shinkansen, causing the suspension of operation for a long period of time.JR East caused a bolt to come off on an attached device on the engine, which caused damage to the device. It was revealed that oil appeared to have leaked from inside. This time, the vehicle had just started being used and there was an initial defect in the equipment.
Early on the morning of the 2nd of this month, approximately 20 liters of engine oil leaked onto the tracks from a Tohoku Shinkansen train inspecting the tracks between Fukushima Station and Shiroishi Zao Station, and the train was forced to run between Tokyo Station and Sendai Station to clean it up. It took about five and a half hours for all lines to reopen.
According to JR East, when the manufacturer investigated the cause of this incident, it was discovered that a bolt that was holding a part in place inside a device called a compressor that is attached to the engine had come loose.
It appears that the bolt came off and parts fell off, and when these parts came into contact, the device was damaged from the inside, causing oil to leak from inside.
This inspection vehicle was manufactured in November of last year, and had only been in use since December last year, so the manufacturer reported that there was an initial defect in the equipment.
JR East will suspend the use of 25 inspection vehicles of the same type, including this one, until repairs and inspections are completed.