Japan orders probe of train network after first 'red flag'

TOKYO - Japan's Transport Minister Keiichi Ishii ordered the five Japan Railways companies that operate the network to conduct an urgent inspection of all 4,800 bullet trains in service nationwide.

The weekend move, announced after a Cabinet meeting, came after Japan's bullet train safety track record suffered its first blip.

Following the discovery of a crack and an oil leak, the Nozomi 34 was pulled from service on Monday last week, three and a half hours into its five-hour journey. None of the 1,000 passengers was injured, preserving Japan's record of zero casualties since the bullet train network, or shinkansen, started running in 1964.