TOMIOKA, Fukushima Prefecture--Workers have begun tearing down structures at a train station here that was devastated in the deadly tsunami of 2011, citing the danger of collapse they pose to the growing number of visitors to the site.
TOMIOKA, Fukushima Prefecture--Workers have begun tearing down structures at a train station here that was devastated in the deadly tsunami of 2011, citing the danger of collapse they pose to the growing number of visitors to the site.
The removal work got under way Jan. 13 on the JR Joban Line's Tomioka Station as East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) workers were seen removing the station's collapsing platform roofs. JR East’s Mito branch said an overpass at the station will be taken down by the end of March.
According to the railway operator, the dismantling work is necessary to protect the increasing number of visitors to the collapsing structures who see the ruins as a symbol of the triple disaster, involving the quake, tsunami and nuclear accident.
On March 11, 2011, the Tomioka Station building was swept away by the tsunami that struck northeastern Japan. Located within a 20-kilometer radius of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the central government designated the entire town of Tomioka as an evacuation zone.
In March 2013, after entry to most parts of the town became permissible during the day, curious visitors from across Japan began visiting the ruins of Tomioka Station, which was overrun with high grass and weeds, and had collapsing platform roofs.
Because of the nuclear disaster, the section of the JR Joban Line between Tatsuta and Haranomachi stations, which runs through Tomioka Station, has been closed to train services. JR East said decontamination work will be conducted along the route to pave the way for eventual reconstruction.
The railway added that the base of a train platform and the rail tracks will remain. A time frame for the resumption of railway services has yet to be determined.
"It is sad that I can no longer see a train station that I used to use daily," said Masato Kujiraoka, a 20-year-old college student who was evacuated from Tomioka. "I hope a train will one day return to my hometown."
With an eye toward preserving the memories of the Great East Japan Earthquake for future generations, Tomioka town officials have requested that JR East provide them with items that were once part of the station, such as the Tomioka Station sign.