On 30 May, multiple train lines in the south of Japan suddenly stood following after a power outage.
The operator Kyushu Railway Company, also known as JR Kyushu, had to cancel 26 trains and many more were delayed, so there was chaos on a railway network that is famous for its efficiency and punctuality.
JR Kyushu claim that they have found the source of the fault: a slug that had found its way into an electric box near the tracks.
A representative of the company told AFP that they were looking for the machine which caused the power failure. They originally expected it to be a bug on the system, but it turned out to be a dead slug.
According to the representative, this was a “rare” incident. He went on to explain that they often have incidents involving collisions of trains and deer, but never any incidents in relation to slugs.
After checking all of the electric boxes in the area, JR Kyushu has eliminated any further slug intrusions.
