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People were trapped in commuter hell on Tokyo’s railway lines, which ferry millions of passengers a day, after a power outage.
If London stations like Euston can feel busy at rush hour, it pales in comparison to the scenes in Tokyo on Friday morning.
Thousands of commuters were caught out after a power outage ground trains to a halt on the East Japan Railway’s Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines.
Large crowds were squeezed at stations after trains were cancelled for hours while passengers were stranded on trains between stations.
The scenes at Ueno station on Tokyo’s rail network were crowded, although seemingly calm (Picture: @taitanno/X)
One passenger said on social media that both lines are ‘f***ed’ after the power outage, making transferring to the Ueno line also ‘impossible.’
Station staff had to block access to some platforms, leading to huge bottlenecks at some of the city’s busiest stations.
Five people felt sick while waiting inside trains and were reportedly taken to hospital.
山手線・京浜東北が停電の影響で上野駅からの乗り換えもムリすぎる😭 pic.twitter.com/7Af0UWJWsv— taitan（たいたん） (@taitanno) January 16, 2026
Taxi ranks were packed with anxious commuters trying to get to work, with some people opting to walk for an hour, Japan Times reports.
Footage shows firefighters and rail staff evacuating commuters after they were stranded between stations on the Keihin-Tohoku route.
Tokyo’s Shinhashi Station was affected by overcrowding on Friday morning after the major power outage (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)
The power outages were caused by two mysterious incidents, and authorities are investigating whether they are linked.
Railway staff first discovered the outage between Shimbashi and Shinagawa stations shortly before 4am local time, thought to be caused by issues with electrical equipment.
Then a fire was spotted near Tamachi Station at about 8am (11pm GMT on Thursday), with flames coming from a substation, according to the public broadcaster NHK.
停電で運転見合わせのおかげで朝の品川駅ではずっとこれ、東京の人口密度こえーよ#運転見合わせ #品川駅 pic.twitter.com/ZIzB9Vlagj— ︎︎ (@oyxlv_) January 16, 2026
Inside the Ueno station this morning, where thousands queued (Picture: @taitanno/X)
Greater Tokyo’s rail network, which carries up to 40 million people a day, is known to be generally reliable.
On the UK railways, some of the worst days for disruption were in July last year, when rail infrastructure struggled with the heatwave.
On July 12 alone, over 6% of trains were cancelled, the rail watchdog, Office ofRail and Road, said.
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