System glitch disrupts JR East's ticketing, tax hike denied as cause

Ticket machines at many East Japan Railway Co. stations were temporarily unable to issue reserved train tickets Tuesday morning, with the company blaming the glitch on a regular system update.The problem, which originated with JR East's "Eki-net" online reservation system, was resolved shortly past noon.While it also followed an update related to the country's consumption tax hike the same day, the company denied this was the cause of the problem.The disruption affected passengers traveling in Tokyo and surrounding areas as well as those using the Hokuriku and Hokkaido shinkansen bullet tra…READ FULL ARTICLE