Motivated by their grievances against the shinkansen, or bullet train, a group of bombers announce that they have placed speed-triggered bombs aboard a bullet train from Tokyo to Hakata, the "Hikari 109." If the train slows below a certain speed, it will be destroyed along with its many passengers. Proving their assertion by blowing up an unmanned freight train, the terrorists demand five million dollars. The police want to stop the bombs, and the train company wants to save the passengers, and they soon find themselves in conflict under the frantic pace set by these dramatic circumstances.