The Otsu District Court on Friday sentenced three men to suspended prison sentences ranging from two to 2 1/2 years for their roles in the May 1991 collision of trains operated by Shigaraki Highland Railway and West Japan Railway Co. near Shigaraki, Shiga Prefecture.
The accident, in which most of the JR West passengers were en route to a world pottery festival in the town of Shigaraki, left 42 people dead and more than 600 injured.
Shigaraki railway's former chief driver, Kozo Satonishi, 69; the former head of its facilities division, Nagao Yamamoto, 63; and former signal maintenance firm employee Mamoru Yagisawa, 51, were found guilty of professional negligence resulting in death and injury.
Satonishi was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison while Yamamoto and Yagisawa each received two-year terms.