2003 North-East Shinkyuko Disaster

The 2003 North-East Shinkyuko Disaster in Yamatai was a major train collision caused by a terrorist cyber-attack. On 20 July 2003, two high-speed Shinkyuko trains on the North-East Shinkyuko line collided on a viaduct in the northern suburbs of Odagawa, Aomori Province. The two trains derailed each other, and four cars fell off the viaduct. 23 people were killed and 210 were injured, 27 of which were highly severe injuries.

Immediately following the accident, rescue operations were carried out by the relevant agencies and some units of the Yamatai Imperial Army. For the first time in Yamataian history, the extremely vital Shinkyuko operations nationwide were immediately suspended for three days, after which they were resumed at lower frequencies and lower train speeds for two weeks, heavily affecting the national economy for a period of time. Though Shinkyuko operations returned to pre-disaster standards following the two weeks, the North-East Line only resumed normal operations two months later following a stringent audit.

Investigations into the accident, which was the first of its kind on the extremely safe Shinkyuko network, revealed that a signalling error at Kita-Odagawa station resulted in one of the trains involved in the accident entering the wrong track. Though initially blamed on faulty signalling equipment, further investigations revealed that the error had been caused by an orchestrated cyber attack by agents of the 46th Battalion, a Hinoan terrorist group, in conjunction with unknown foreign elements.

Psychologists involved in the investigation also suggested that the driver of the train, who perished in the accident and was only one week into his job, potentially did not question the unusual signal error due to the strict hierarchical company culture of the North-East National Railway Corporation. This prompted a major reform of railway corporate and safety culture throughout the entire National Railways Group.

The 2005 disaster remains the only accident with fatalities in the 50-year history of the Shinkyuko network. The role of cyber warfare in the disaster prompted the Yamataian government to create the Information Defence Force, a cyber-warfare defence and intelligence force under the Ministry of Defence.