Tokyo: A power outage hit Tohoku, Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train services around 10 a.m. Tuesday.

According to East Japan Railway Co., or JR East, maintenance workers found an overhead cable hanging down in the section between Ueno and Omiya stations.

The company is investigating the cause of the development and is guiding passengers on trains that have stopped between stations to safety.

JR East has temporarily suspended both inbound and outbound Shinkansen services between Tokyo Station and Sendai, Niigata and Nagano stations. It will take “a considerable amount of time” to resume operations, a JR East official said.

Shortly past noon, JR East started to offer shuttle services between Sendai and Shin-Aomori stations on the Tohoku Shinkansen Line, Echigo-Yuzawa and Niigata stations on the Joetsu Shinkansen Line, and Nagano and Kanazawa stations on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line.

JIJI Press