April 12, 2006 - Perhaps They Should Have Tested More - Central Japan Railway Co.

Kyodo News:
Programming Glitch in ATC System Causes Shinkansen Trains to Stop
Apr 12, 2006 
 
A programming glitch in a new automatic train control system has caused bullet trains on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line to stop during operation, officials of Central Japan Railway Co. revealed Tuesday.

There have been 22 cases of such stops up to Monday since the train operator began using the system on March 18, resulting in disruption of train schedules, said the company known as JR Tokai.

The trains stopped because they received an order to do so, despite there being no actual abnormalities with the trains or other situations.

The glitch mainly stemmed from the system's inability to simultaneously process massive amounts of data, including those on locations, the officials said.