Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Saito visited the site of Shiroishi City, Miyagi Prefecture, where the Tohoku Shinkansen derailed due to the March 16 earthquake, and requested JR East to hurry to understand the damage situation and announce the prospect of recovery as soon as possible. I made it clear that I did.
On the 19th, Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Saito visited Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, which observed a maximum seismic intensity of 6 upper on the 16th of this month.
Of these, at the site in Shiroishi City, Miyagi Prefecture, where the running Tohoku Shinkansen derailed, we climbed the viaduct and inspected the derailed vehicle.
After that, Minister Saito attended an opinion exchange meeting with Deputy Governor Endo of Miyagi Prefecture and Mayor Yamada of Shiroishi City at the city hall, and received an explanation about the damage situation.
After the discussion meeting, Minister Saito told reporters, "I visited three places and realized the magnitude of the damage. I could not see it today, but the damage related to the port is also great, so I firmly I want to respond. "
Regarding the derailed Tohoku Shinkansen, he said, "I felt that the lessons learned so far, such as the derailment of the Joetsu Shinkansen due to the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake, were not significantly shifted to the side even after the derailment." , JR East has been requested to hurry to understand the damage situation and announce the prospect of recovery as soon as possible.
In addition, Minister Saito also expressed his intention to expand alternative transportation in cooperation with bus and airline companies until the operation resumes.