The Kobe District Court on Sept. 27 acquitted three former presidents of West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) of the charge of professional negligence in the April 25, 2005, train derailment that killed 106 passengers plus the train driver and injured 562 other passengers, in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture.
The ruling was based on a strict application of the relevant law on the responsibility of specific individuals in a large-scale accident involving public transportation. As former leaders of a railway company, the three should not think that the court acquittal has cleared them of all responsibility for the accident.
The derailment occurred when a train entered a curved section on the Fukuchiyama line at 116 kph; the speed limit was 70 kph. The three former presidents should not forget that if JR West had installed the automatic train stoppage system (ATS) at the scene, it would have been possible to reduce the speed of the train and thus prevent the derailment. The ruling pointed out that installing the system would have been technically and financially easy.
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