[singingbard]

Looks like a Frecciarossa 1000 derailed in 2020 but it was due to a manufacturer defect in a track switch replaced the night before.

The defect was not caught by the manufacturer or the system operator. It was due to two crossed wires in an assembly.

I know a lot more engineering goes into these trains due to the higher stakes. Japan’s high speed rail hasn’t had a fatal accident in 60 years. I’m wondering what the cause of this will turn out to be.

[shiroiuma]

Japan's shinkansen system has never had a fatal accident, except for one incident in 1995 where someone got killed at a station because he was caught in a door as the train departed the station (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishima_Station_incident). No one has ever died in a derailing, crash, etc.

[rurban]

Actually the defect was detected by the operators, who installed it that night. They disabled the switch, but apparently this didn't reach the day shift.