JR West has decided for the first time to announce the status of income and expenditure for each "line section" that has not been clarified so far for some of the regional routes where the number of users is particularly low due to population decline and corona damage. I found out by interviewing the people concerned.
It seems that there is a desire to accelerate discussions on the future of routes whose profitability is becoming difficult by showing specific income and expenditure conditions.
JR West has indicated that it will have a final deficit of 233.2 billion yen last year due to the decline in railway passengers due to the corona disaster, and that this year (2021) will also have a maximum final deficit of 116.5 billion yen.
Under these circumstances, the company plans to announce for the first time the status of individual income and expenditure, which has not been clarified so far, for some "line sections" of local routes where the number of users is particularly low due to population decline and corona damage. I learned from interviews with the people concerned that it was solidified.
The target of the announcement is that after April, we are considering to make the "line section" where the "transport density", which indicates the average number of people carried per day, is less than 2000 people.
It seems that there is a desire to accelerate discussions with local governments along the railway lines about future measures, including measures to promote the use of routes whose profitability is becoming difficult by showing specific income and expenditure conditions, and conversion to bus routes. increase.
Decreasing the number of users of local railway lines is a national issue, and the national government plans to hold the first meeting of a study group of experts on the 14th to start full-scale discussions on the ideal form of local public transportation.