A Japan Rail (JR) freight train passes through a train station in Osaka.
Credit: Reuters Photo
Tokyo: Japan Freight Railway (JR Freight) suspended all cargo train operations on Wednesday after the company found evidence of misconduct in safety tests, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The suspension by the biggest cargo train company in Japan led to at least a day-long delay in parcel delivery services, according to courier operators, while the full extent of the impact on the country's logistics remains unclear.
JR Freight, the only Japanese firm operating cargo trains at a nationwide level, said on Tuesday it had found inappropriate procedures at three of its rail yards, where employees fabricated data or ignored suboptimal safety test data during wheel assembly procedures for cargo cars.
Japan's transport ministry asked the company to conduct emergency checks on all cargo cars to ensure the safety of wheels. JR Freight decided on Wednesday to keep all of its cars out of action until their safety is confirmed, according to NHK.
JR Freight did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The company aims to resume operations by the end of Wednesday and minimise the logistical impact by increasing the payload of each cargo car, Kyodo news agency later reported.
Delivery service company Yamato said some of its longer-distance domestic parcels would face delays of more than one day. SG Holdings' Sagawa, Fukuyama Transporting , and Seino also apologised to customers for delivery delays due to JR Freight's cargo suspension.
JR Freight was founded in 1987 to succeed the privatised cargo business of the state-owned Japanese National Railways and operates more than 7,000 cargo cars, according to its website.