Japanese train runs without driver

TSU, Japan, April 20 (UPI) -- An empty train with no one at the controls rolled about 5 miles at Tsu, Japan, Sunday night before staff caught up with it, officials said.

An incorrectly applied brake was believed to have allowed the runaway JR Meisho Line train to pull away from Ieki Station on its own, the Mainichi Daily News reported Monday. By the time Central Japan Railway Co. staff found the train about half an hour later, between Isegi and Iseoi stations, it had passed through three other stations, the newspaper said.

It's not a first for Japan. In August 2006, a train took off on its own after a driver forgot to chock the wheels.