TOKYO: Subway operator Tokyo Metro Co. has said that maintenance subsidiary Metro Sharyo Co. falsified data taken during an assembly process for wheelsets, which consist of wheels and axles.

According to the announcement Wednesday, Metro Sharyo made the data appear to fall within standards. The company thought that such a change was acceptable if the extent was limited to a certain level.

The data were altered for 233 axles of 161 subway cars out of the total 11,000 axles of some 2,700 cars owned by Tokyo Metro.

The affected cars were used on eight Tokyo Metro lines such as the Ginza and Tozai lines. Also affected were some train cars of Toyo Rapid Railway in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, and Saitama Railway Corp. in Saitama Prefecture, north of Tokyo, both of which commissioned the work on their cars to Metro Sharyo.

Tokyo Metro will continue using affected cars after confirming the safety through ultrasound inspections, except for two cars used in the Yurakucho and Fukutoshin lines with axles whose data far exceeded standard levels.

On Saturday, Tokyo Metro canceled one train on the Nanboku Line due to the fraud, but the train was shortly put back into service after the safety was confirmed.

Tokyo Metro said that the fraud will no longer affect its subway operations.

The problem came to light through urgent inspections ordered by the transport ministry after the disclosure of data falsification by Japan Freight Railway Co., or JR Freight.

Similar data falsification has also been found at the Toei subway service run by the Tokyo metropolitan government. A total of 467 axles of 156 cars were affected.

JIJI Press