Premium

‘Brutal morning’ for commuters as power outage paralyses Tokyo’s busiest train routes

Services on East Japan Railway’s Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines were completely stopped in both directions.

3 min readNew DelhiJan 16, 2026 05:39 PM IST

The disruption began just before 8 am after a transformer caught fire near Tamachi station

A power failure on Tokyo’s railway network brought the city’s famously punctual morning commute to a standstill on Friday, leaving thousands of passengers stuck at stations during peak rush hour. Services on two of Tokyo’s most important train lines were suspended after a fire broke out near the tracks, triggering widespread delays, overcrowded platforms and confusion among commuters scrambling for other ways to travel.

Services on East Japan Railway’s Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines were completely stopped in both directions. The operator said it could not immediately comment on when trains would start running again. According to public broadcaster NHK, cited by Reuters, the disruption began just before 8 am after a transformer caught fire near Tamachi station, which is shared by both lines. The fire was largely brought under control within half an hour.

Television footage aired by NTV showed passengers being evacuated from a stranded Keihin-Tohoku Line train, with people carefully walking along the tracks under the supervision of railway staff and firefighters.

The shutdown had a huge impact because of the importance of the affected routes. The circular Yamanote Line connects many of Tokyo’s busiest stations, including Shinjuku, which alone sees about 3.5 million passengers a day. The Keihin-Tohoku Line links central Tokyo with major areas such as Yokohama, making it a crucial artery for daily commuters.

Videos from stations quickly spread across social media. One clip circulating on X showed scenes from inside Ueno station, where large crowds of commuters could be seen wandering around, seemingly unsure of what to do next.

Watch the video:

Commuter Hell in Tokyo this morning: a power outage caused several major train lines, including the Yamanote and Keihin Tohoku lines, to suspend service.
This is a video from inside Ueno Station.pic.twitter.com/PxRyg1986p

— Jeffrey J. Hall 🇯🇵🇺🇸 (@mrjeffu) January 16, 2026

Online reactions poured in as users shared their frustration and disbelief. A user wrote, “imagine the chaos of 10 million people stuck in the world’s busiest game of sardines.”

Another user commented, “This is what happens when a system built for perfection meets reality.” A third person shared, “My son, travelling home, just made it to Narita airport. He wanted to take the Yamanote line as first leg, but it had just been suspended. Wasn’t an easy ride, tired with suitcase & two heavy bags.”

Story continues below this ad

A fourth individual added, “Brutal morning. When the Tokyo rail backbone goes down, the whole city feels it – millions stuck, zero slack in the system.”