While bullet trains are the speediest and most efficient modes of transportation for passengers in Japan, they can still get delayed from time to time. A Japanese bullet train was delayed for 17 minutes when a snake was discovered in a passenger car.
The Central Japan Railway Company said that the train arrived in Tokyo, Japan, from Nagoya but that its departure to Osaka was delayed. This happened after a passenger alerted station staff to the presence of a 16-inch snake slithering through a passenger car.
The train, a Shinkansen bullet train, was taken out of service, which caused a 17-minute delay for more than 600 passengers while another train was assigned to cover the route.
Fortunately, the snake was captured but the exact type of serpent has not yet been revealed by officials. An investigation is underway as to how the stowaway ended up on the train.
“It’s difficult to imagine wild snakes somehow climbing onto the train at one of the stations. We have rules against bringing snakes into the shinkansen,” a Central Japan Railway spokesman told The Japan Times. “But we don’t check passengers’ baggage.”
Source: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2024/04/17/japan/snake-found-on-shinkansen-train/