KYODO NEWS - Dec 30, 2018 - 19:53 | All, Japan

Year-end train services were greatly disrupted in Tokyo and its vicinity Sunday due mainly to a fault detected on a shinkansen bullet train car at Tokyo Station, the operator said, adding the delays affected nearly 228,700 passengers.

A total of 376 bullet trains were suspended or delayed for up to one hour on the Tohoku, Joetsu, Hokuriku and other shinkansen lines, according to East Japan Railway Co.

JR East said it detected a malfunction in the emergency braking system of a bullet train on the Tohoku-Yamagata shinkansen line at 9:50 a.m. Sunday.

The fault forced the train to stay on Track 23 of the station for more than 90 minutes, affecting other shinkansen services and leading the already crowded platforms and concourses of the hub station to be packed with frustrated passengers.

"I had expected some congestion because it's the year-end but did not expect this at all," Nao Nakajima, a 20-year-old student, said on her way back to her hometown Yurihonjo in Akita Prefecture. "I wish I could go home soon and relax."