Python wrapped around armrest halts Japanese ‘bullet’ train

A passenger spotted a python curled around the armrest of another passenger’s seat on a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen “bullet” train, forcing the train to make an unscheduled stop.

A passenger spotted a python curled around the armrest of another passenger’s seat on a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen “bullet” train, forcing the train to make an unscheduled stop.

A snake lays in a container after it was caught in bullet train, in Hamamatsu, central Japan. (AP)

No one was injured in the incident Monday.

The train’s operator, JR Tokai, said the passenger sitting in the reserved seat was unaware that the python was wrapped around the armrest for about 50 minutes until the person behind him saw it and notified a conductor.

The super-express train made an unscheduled stop at Hamamatsu station and railway police removed the snake in about a minute.

It said the train left the station and arrived in Hiroshima, its destination, on time.