TOKYO -- Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) revealed on March 18 that a driver had been caught using a smartphone while operating a local train on the Chuo Line.

The three-car train, bound for Nakatsugawa, Gifu Prefecture, from Matsumoto, Nagano Prefecture, was carrying 35 passengers.

According to the company, the driver was using the smartphone around 7:50 a.m. on March 6 while the train was running between Agematsu and Okuwa stations in Nagano Prefecture. A video of the incident was posted on X (formerly Twitter) on March 17.

The driver has admitted to using the phone, and was quoted as saying he had accessed social media sites related to investing about 10 times while driving in the past three months.

The company reported the incident to the Chubu District Transport Bureau on March 18 in accordance with transport ministry regulations and removed the man from driving duties on the same day.

The company explained it would deal with the driver's actions strictly and plans to investigate all local line drivers for inappropriate smartphone use, as well as inform shinkansen bullet train drivers to refrain from such behavior.

(Japanese original by Keisuke Ota, Gifu Bureau)