Japan steps up fire-prevention measures in subways

Japan's central and local governments on Wednesday started inspecting the fire-prevention measures of subway systems nationwide in the wake of a fatal subway fire in South Korea on Tuesday. The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry and local transport bureaus launched the inspections to check on the various fire-prevention steps, such as the provision of designated evacuation routes, in Tokyo and other parts of the country, ministry officials said. According to the transport ministry, subways stations are subject to stricter fire-prevention rules than above ground stations because of the danger that enclosed spaces pose during fires.

But some old subway stations apparently do not meet all the required safety standards.Fire-prevention standards were strengthened in 1975, when the then Transport Ministry issued an ordinance calling on subway operators to design fire-proof facilities, establish offices in charge of disaster preparedness and provide adequate ventilation facilities and more than one evacuation route.

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The transport ministry said Thursday 150 subway stations in five Japanese cities, or 30% of such stations nationwide, fail to meet smoke control safety standards and 99 fail evacuation route requirements. [...] The 11 subway operators include transportation bureaus in eight cities 窶 Sapporo, Sendai, Yokohama, Nagoya, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe and Fukuoka. The three others are Tokyo's Teito Rapid Transit Authority (TRTA), the Bureau of Transportation of the Tokyo metropolitan government, and the Saitama Railway Corp of Saitama Prefecture.

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