Just after 8 a.m. on September 19, the coupling section between the Hayabusa and Komachi bullet trains on the Tohoku Shinkansen detached for some reason, causing the separated trains to stop between Sendai and Koga stations.

According to East Japan Railway, none of the approximately 320 passengers were injured, and the train was traveling at around 315 km/h when the detachment occurred.

The coupling section is designed to only separate when the train is stationary, but the driver reported no unusual sounds or vibrations just before the incident.

No abnormalities were found on the exterior of the coupling section, and JR East is investigating the cause of the detachment while conducting visual inspections of all 96 connected train sets.

This is the first time that a coupling section has detached while in motion on a JR East train.