Japan Rail to Start Inspection of Shinkansen Passenger Luggage as Part of Anti-Terror Measures for Tokyo 2020 Olympics

JR East and JR Tokai will begin inspecting passenger luggage at major shinkansen (bullet train) stations by July this year as part of anti-terrorism measures for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In coordination with the police and private security companies, JR will use explosive-sniffing dogs at ticket gates to inspect passenger bags, in what will be the first time ever that Japan Rail will carry out such baggage checks. The Tokyo Olympics will start on July 24th.

Japan’s shinkansen trains started operations with the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, but passengers have never been subject to baggage inspection. According to the Nikkei, JR East and JR Tokai plan to continue luggage inspections even after the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games end this fall. The Olympic games will conclude on August 9th and the Paralympic games will wrap up on September 6th.

Japan Rail will be inspecting luggage at major shinkansen stations, like Tokyo and Shinagawa, using sniffer dogs to be stationed in front of ticket gates and ticket vending machines. If a sniffer dog indicates a possible presence of explosives, the suspected bag will be re-inspected by security guards. Thus far, several dozen large-sized and police dogs have been trained for this purpose.

Last year, JR East and JR Tokai carried out a test with patrol dogs at Tokyo Station without causing major passenger disruption.

On an average day, Tokyo Station sees about 200,000 shinkansen passengers. This number is expected to shoot up during the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games. The decision was made to use sniffer dogs instead of x-ray machines because it was thought that dogs would cause less passenger congestion and be able to patrol a wider area.

Other Anti-Terrorism Measures

JR plans to install other anti-terrorism measures, including increasing the number of security cameras in station buildings and in train cars and the number of staff to deal with the greater number of cars that will be run during the Olympics and Paralympics. JR Tokai also has security staff on all shinkansen trains.

Other railway companies, besides JR, will also be inspecting bags and passengers. On subway trains in the Toei network, for example, the Tokyo metropolitan transportation bureau plans to install body scanners capable of scanning underneath clothing.

Source: Nikkei newspaper, January 23, 2020 (in Japanese)

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