JR East Shinkansen trains suspended due to system failure+

TOKYO, Jan. 17 Kyodo -
Shinkansen bullet train services on all five lines of East Japan Railway Co.
were suspended for 75 minutes Monday morning due to a failure in their control
system, affecting more than 80,000 people.
The railway firm, known as JR East, said the disruptions were caused by a
failure in the main system controlling its Shinkansen operations, called
''COSMOS,'' but it remains unknown how exactly the system broke down.
Fifteen trains were cancelled and 124 were delayed for up to 133 minutes on the
Tohoku, Joetsu, Nagano, Yamagata and Akita lines, which were closed from 8:23
a.m. to 9:38 a.m., JR East said. The services had returned to normal by night
on all five lines.
The screens of the system froze and remained unable to function stably, the
company said, adding that it is investigating the cause of the problem.
JR East last experienced a system failure that led to cancellations of over 100
trains on Dec. 29, 2008. Services were suspended on Saturday as well on the
Tohoku, Yamagata and Akita lines due to electric system and signal failures at
a station on the Tohoku line.
Bullet trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line have also been operating behind
schedule since Sunday because of snow.
==Kyodo
2011