West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) and Nankai Electric Railway Co. restarted their services to the airport early in the morning, restoring a crucial transport link to western Japan’s international gateway. Railway services transport nearly 80% of passengers to the airport, which sits on a man-made island in Osaka Bay.
Railway services to Kansai International Airport resumed on Tuesday (September 18) just two weeks after a powerful typhoon blitzed through the region.
West Japan Railway Co. (JR West) and Nankai Electric Railway Co. restarted their services to the airport early in the morning, restoring a crucial transport link to western Japan’s international gateway. Railway services transport nearly 80% of passengers to the airport, which sits on a man-made island in Osaka Bay.
Typhoon Jebi had sent a tanker ship crashing into the sole road and rail bridge connecting the airport with the mainland, resulting in major damage and leaving nearly 8,000 passengers and staff stranded at the airport, Kyodo News reported.
The storm had also flooded one of the airport’s two runways and the No. 1 terminal building, which typically services about 400 flights daily.
JR West said that damage to the railways was less significant than expected, and that work had been able to complete ahead of an initial Friday reopening, when the No. 1 terminal building will also be fully restored, with flight services to return to normal.
But restoring damage to the road on the bridge is expected to take several months. While three lanes were unaffected by the tanker collision, they remain mostly off-limits and only special vehicles such as limousine buses are allowed to use them.
Operators have terminated the free bus services shuttling between a railway station on the mainland and the airport.