East Japan Railway (JR East) has cancelled one of its luxury overnight sleeper services after staff were caught drinking alcohol on duty.
The six members of staff have been discplined and taken off duty, leading to a shortage of personnel to operate the Train Suite Shiki-shima service from Tokyo on 30 August.
The staff, who worked as sommeliers and bartenders, were found to have been consuming alcoholic beverages that went beyond routine tastings and quality checks since September 2022.
In a statement, JR East said: “Some of the crew were repeatedly drinking more than they were allowed to as part of their routine quality control testing.
“This not only severely undermines trust in our business, but is unacceptable behaviour for those in a position to oversee the itinerary of our guests.”
