Episode 213: The Amagasaki train derailment

Every day we head off to work or school or wherever else we might be headed with the hope we will arrive there safely. But while we might feel like we can depend on ourselves to keep safe, sometimes our lives are in the hands of pilots, drivers, or engineers who are under extraordinary pressures we have no clue about until it's too late.

Videos:

• Seconds From Disaster: Runaway Train (S 6, Ep 5)
• Trapped Underground for Hours After Horrific Train Crash (S 1 Ep 3)
• Fukuchiyama Derailment Mystery (Toshiden podcast, Tara A. Devlin)

Articles and books:

• Families, Survivors Mark 14th Anniversary of Fatal JR West Derailment 
• 54 Killed in Japan Train Crash
• Japan Train Derailment
• Two Survivors Pulled From Train Crash in Japan; Death Toll at 76
• Second Train Derailment in Japan
• At Least 73 Dead, 456 Hurt in Japan Train Derailment
• Toll Rises in Japan Train Wreck
• Japan Train Crash Toll Climbs
• Japan’s Train Derailment Reaches 95, May Rise Further
• Rail Company in Japan Investigated
• Japan Crash Inquiry Focuses on Driver
• Death Crash Train Driver “Lived in Fear of Being Late”
• Final Survivor Pulled From Train Wreck in Japan
• In Japan Crash, Time Obsession May Be Culprit
• Japanese Rethink Faith in Rail System After Crash
• Rail Offices Raided in Crash Probe
• Union Chief Blames ‘Bullying’ Rail Firm for Japanese Train Crash
• Victims’ Phones Ring Out Across Crash Site
• Hope Sinks for Japan Crash Survivors
• Toll in Japan Train Crash Tops 100
• Rescuers Find Body of Japan Train Crash Driver
• Workers Clear Railway Crash Scene as Toll Rises to 107
• Japanese Train Crash Linked to Employee Stress
• Japanese Train Smash Aftermath a Circus
• Japan Train Driver Gets Reprimand
• JR West Defends Retraining Regimen
• Railway Accident Investigation Report
• Our Goal- A Corporate Culture that Places Top Priority on Safety
• JR West May Face Crash Negligence Trial
• If Human Errors are Assumed as Crimes in a Safety Culture: A Lifeworld Analysis of a Rail Crash
• JR West Punished Staff With Toilet Duty, Cutting Weeds
• Invisible Mutuality between Structural Inertia and Learning Disability - A Case Study of the West Japan Railway Accident 4.25
• Street view of crash site memorial (Inori no Mori)
• Dawn of Japanese Railways (Mar. 1994)
• Japan Ex-Rail Chiefs Cleared of Fatal 2005 Crash
• Japan Marks 10th Anniversary of Fatal Train Crash
• Top Court Upholds Acquittal of Ex-JR West Heads Over 2005 Derailment
• Japan’s Train Woes Due to Structural Issues in Ageing Equipment, Lack of Young Engineers
• 2005 Train Crash Site Turned Into Place to Remember Victim
• Informational pamphlet on Inori no Mori (June 2019)
• Train Crash Survivor Aims for Bull’s Eye at Tokyo Paralympics
• JR West Plans to Preserve Train Cars in Deadly Derailment in ’05
• The Derailment Accident on the Fukuchiyama Line
• Japan’s 2005 Deadly Derailment Bereaved Families Struggle to Pass Down Memory: Survey
• Victims of 2005 Derailment in Amagasaki Remembered
• Asymmetry of Authority or Information Underlying Insufficient Communication Associated with a Risk of Crashes or Incidents in Passenger Railway Transportation
• PARALYMPICS: Archery Athlete Never Lost Her Focus After 2005 Train Tragedy
• Train Driver Sues JR West for ¥56 Deducted Pay Over One Minute Delay
• Memorial Held for 107 Victims of 2005 Derailment for First Time in Three Years
• Rescue Operations at the Time of Train Derailment in Amagasaki, Hyogo (Powerpoint, Amagasaki City Fire Dept.)
• 147 Year History of Japanese Railways (2020)
• Construction of Local Railways (July 1995)
• Trains in Japan (2012)
• About us page of JR West
• Difference between different types of trains in Japanese train system
• Crush Injuries and the Crush Syndrome
• Crush Syndrome
• Victim Participation in the Criminal Process in Japan (Matsui Shigenori, 2020)
• Jan. 17, 1995 CE: Kobe Earthquake (6 Apr. 2020)