nagoya station. so far usui has stopped at two stations and passed two others. on time to the second. but then -- >> translator: nagoya station, departing 15 seconds late. >> reporter: it took time getting the passengers on and off. usui accelerates. he wants to make up for the delay. but he has to be careful. if he goes too fast, he'll trigger the automatic brakes. nudging the shifter, usui keeps just inside the speed limit. time check. >> translator: mikawa, passing, three seconds late. >> reporter: usui makes up the lost time over the next two stations. by the third station, he's got train and timetables synchronized again. >> translator: haromasu, passing on time. with the exception of the two through stations, usui has kept precisely to the schedule all the way to tokyo. >> translator: i was getting worried, but in the end i was able to keep my schedule. >> reporter: his 2 1/2-hour journey is recorded on a chip card. it's all there. speed, acceleration. even brake usage. second by second. on a good day usui's card is a record of driving perfection, one his

traffic jams extend more than 20 kilometers on some sections of an expressway connecting tokyo and nagoya. they expect worse traffic on thursday. >>> rescuers in japan made headway in their efforts to save a number of people who are missing or stranded because of severe winter weather. they have reached three people in the japanese alps but at least two others are missing in the mountains and another group has disappeared in a different part of the country. the rescuers made it to three climbers stranded in the hotaka mountain range. bad weather forced them to take a break in a hut. they have so far brought two climbers to the hospital but they have to wait for the weather to clear so they can use a helicopter to rescue a 50-year-old man who has frostbite and has gone through cardiac arrest. in another part of the mountain range rescuers have resumed their search for two climbers who have been missing since monday. the compions said the men left their tent and didn't come back. he told police they may have been caught in an avalanche. and rescuers are trying to save eight men near the sea