Device for charging on-the-go brings subway to a stop in latest mobile battery fire.

The Tokyo Metro’s Hanzomon subway line is pretty handy for getting around the city. Running more or less diagonally between the southwest and northeast corners of downtown, the Hanzomon Line can whisk you to and from the hustle and bustle of Shibuya, the brand-name fashion boutiques of Omotesando, the big-business high-rises of Otemachi, and the Skytree in Oshiage, all within 30 minutes at most and with no need to transfer trains along the way.

However, the Hanzomon Line was decidedly less convenient than usual last Sunday morning, when the whole line had to be shut down because of a fire that broke out on one of the trains.

The idea of flames onboard a Tokyo subway might seem like a shock, given the excellent safety record of Japan’s public transportation network. In this case, though, there was nothing wrong with the track, the rolling stock itself, or the way the 10-car train was being driven. Instead the fire was caused by a passenger’s mobile battery. As the train was travelling southbound, a passenger noticed flames coming from the battery, and when the train pulled into its next stop, Nagato Station, at around 9:30 a.m., Tokyo Metro staff scrambled to put out the fire.

▼ Video of the fire being extinguished

The line was then shut down for the next 40 minutes while safety checks were performed, after which the trains started moving again. Thankfully no one was injured, but with an average of roughly 75,000 people a day passing through Nagata Station, a fire could have been very dangerous, especially since as an underground subway station it only has a limited number of evacuation routes. And as mentioned above, the Hanzomon Line also passes through Shibuya and Oshiage Stations, both of which are near constantly packed with commuters and sightseers, and congested enough that a sudden fire in one of them could be even more deadly.

Mobile battery fires are becoming an increasingly common problem in Japan, with recent high-profile incidents taking place at a Kyoto hotel and onboard a Tokyo-bound airliner. Last summer also saw a mobile battery fire on the Yamanote Line, the above-ground rail loop that circles the Tokyo city center and is arguably the most important train line in the country.

With electronic devices becoming increasingly integrated in people’s lives, commuters and sightseers alike feel an increased desire for ways to keep them charged up while out and about. At the same time, the increased risk of fires in enclosed spaces is something that transportation providers will have to address, and just as Japanese airlines now have new rules regarding bringing mobile batteries onboard their planes, train and subway operators may now be wanting to reexamine their own policies and guidelines.

Source: TBS News Dig via Itai News
Top image: Pakutaso
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