OSAKA - A local train derailed at Kyoto Station in western Japan on Monday morning but none of the roughly 30 passengers aboard were injured, the train operator said.
The four-car train bound for Kashiharajingu-mae on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line derailed at around 5:15 a.m., after traveling about 120 meters from Kyoto Station, according to Kintetsu Railway Co.
The driver stopped the train after noticing something unusual while passing over a track switch and found that the second and third cars had partially derailed, according to a report the operator submitted to the transport ministry.
The part that connected the cars shifted to the side, with the train coming to a halt at an overpass. The passengers were safely evacuated from the train.
The cause of the derailment is under investigation, with the Japan Transport Safety Board dispatching two railway accident investigators to the site.
Train services between Kyoto and Kamitobaguchi stations on the Kintetsu Kyoto Line were suspended, while there were disruptions in other sections.
A 19-year-old university student at Kyoto Station who takes that line every day, said, "It is frightening to think what it would have been like if the train I was on derailed.
