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Osaka/Kansai Expo Announces Emergency Overhaul After Metro Outage Stranded 11,000 Overnight

The Expo Association plans a disaster-response hub led by a designated spokesperson, expanded bilingual alerts, plus car pickup via a nearby park-and-ride.

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Overview

  • Organizers detailed reforms that include activating a disaster-response headquarters for transport disruptions, appointing an information lead, boosting Japanese and English updates, and pre-identifying priority shelter facilities.
  • In future incidents, families will be allowed to pick up attendees by car using the Maishima park-and-ride next to Yumeshima, which can accommodate roughly 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles.
  • About 49,000 people were at or near the site when the outage began, an estimated 32,000 remained at midnight, and roughly 11,000 stayed at the venue until morning.
  • The Chuo Line lost power around 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 13, limited turn-back service started about 10:10 p.m., full service resumed at 5:25 a.m. on Aug. 14, and the site fully cleared at 6:55 a.m.
  • The outage is believed to have been caused by a short near a rail joint where iron filings accumulated on a flame-retardant sheet, and organizers noted earlier steps such as opening facilities for rest and distributing about 1,000 bottles of water.