Shinkansen or Bullet Train passing a station in Japan (Picture: Getty)

A door was left open on one of the fastest trains in the world.

The operator of the bullet train in Japan frantically pressed the brakes while going 175mph after an indicator showed one of the exits was not closed on Wednesday.

Luckily all the 340 passengers on board the Hayabusa number 46 service were OK but they were a bit unnerved when the locomotive had to make an emergency stop.

The train, which has a top speed of 200mph, remained in a tunnel for 15 minutes while the door was closed and then resumed its journey to Tokyo.

It turned out the door had remained open because a cleaner had not remembered to shut the manual controls.

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The bullet (shinkansen) train travelled for 4km (2.5 miles) before the driver noticed there was a problem, according to local reports.

The Japanese transport ministry warned the East Japan Railway Company over the incident after a 19-minute delay disrupted 3,000 commuters.