YOKOSUKA, Japan, May 7 (UPI) -- Some 6,000 morning commuters were told to get off trains and walk along railway tracks near Tokyo Thursday after a train had brake trouble, the railway said.

The Yokosuka Line train, bound for Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, from Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, became stranded between stations when its brakes became stuck around 6:50 a.m. local time, the East Japan Railway Co. said.


An estimated 357,000 commuters on other trains were also inconvenienced when train services were temporarily suspended on the parallel Keihin-Tohoku Line, the railway commonly called JR East said.

Several Yokosuka Line passengers were hospitalized after complaining of sickness from being stranded in trains for up to 2 1/2 hours, the Kyodo News service reported.

While the train with brake trouble eventually completed its run to Tokyo around 9:30 a.m., two trailing trains that came to a halt between stations did not. About 6,000 commuters on those trains were told they had to get off and walk along the tracks to the nearest station, the news agency said.

JR East is the largest passenger railway company in the world and one of the seven Japan Railways Group companies.