OSAKA, Oct. 17, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- West Japan Railway Co. on Saturday apologized to bereaved relatives and survivors of a 2005 fatal train derailment for improperly obtaining a report about the accident, which caused doubts about its credibility.
''We have caused deep distrust. We deeply feel apologetic for violating compliance rules and acting improperly,'' Takayuki Sasaki, president of the railway operator, told a meeting of about 170 bereaved relatives and survivors in Itami, Hyogo Prefecture.
Sasaki and other executives of the company, commonly known as JR West, explained how former President Masao Yamazaki obtained a yet-to-be publicized report on the cause of the derailment from a governmental railway accident investigation panel.
The top officials also explained JR West's attempts to remove or modify a clause disadvantageous to the company from the report.
While apologizing, Yamazaki told the meeting, ''I took foolish actions, relying on the ties of the family of Japanese National Railways.''
JR West pledged to set up a team under the control of the president to investigate the incident in addition to another panel of outside investigators.
Some participants expressed distrust of the company over the incident.
''I had thought highly of actions taken by former President Yamazaki to enhance safety, but now I feel deceived,'' said Tsuneo Okumura, 62, whose daughter was killed in the derailment.
''I am disappointed...The company says it is conducting internal investigations but I doubt whether they have been done properly,'' said Masato Nakajima, 46, whose wife was seriously injured, adding that the company should disclose all the findings.
In late September, the Japan Transport Safety Board said Koichi Yamaguchi, then a member of the Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission, leaked a draft report on the derailment accident in Hyogo Prefecture to then JR West President Yamazaki shortly before the panel's final report was released on June 28, 2007.
In response to Yamazaki's repeated requests, Yamaguchi handed over the draft and also called for deleting from the report or playing down a clause disadvantageous to JR West saying that the accident could have been avoided if the railway operator had installed an automatic train stopping system called ATS.
Following the information leak, the safety board, which is the commission's successor, has denied any distortion in the panel report.
The commuter train derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo Prefecture, on the Fukuchiyama Line on April 25, 2005, killed the driver and 106 passengers, making it the worst railway accident in Japan since the start of the Japan Railways group in 1987 following the breakup and privatization of Japanese National Railways.
