Hearings were held with local governments where railways that continue to operate in the red run at a national study group that discusses drastic reviews such as discontinuing railways and switching to buses nationwide, which are in danger of survival. ..
Some local governments commented that "considering only the balance of local lines is directly linked to the truncation of local areas."
Approximately 20 people, including executives and experts from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism and railway operators, attended the study meeting on the 3rd. The governor of Hiroshima Prefecture expressed his opinion.
Of these, the governor of Shiga Prefecture, the Governor of Shiga Prefecture, said, "We regularly discuss with railway operators on the theme of regional revitalization and build a face-to-face relationship of trust with the local private railways, which continue to be in the red. I was able to decide on financial support because I came here. "
On the other hand, Governor Yuzaki of Hiroshima Prefecture, who is discussing the abolition of deficit lines with JR West, said, "If you consider only the balance of some local lines as a problem, it will directly lead to the truncation of local areas. It is important to maintain all the railway lines in order to attract customers to the mountainous areas. "
Mr. Noboru Kurasaka, Vice President of JR West Japan Railway Company, said, "I once again felt that it was necessary to share information with each other and communicate well with each other to find better things."
In the case of JR Geibi Line
The number of users of the JR Geibi Line, which connects Hiroshima City and Niimi City, Okayama Prefecture, with a total length of more than 159 km, continues to decline.
Of these, the section in the northern part of Hiroshima Prefecture has a remarkable decline, and the actual "transport density" that shows the average number of people carried per kilometer in 2020 is Tojo Station and Bingo in Shobara City, Hiroshima Prefecture. The section of Ochiai Station is 9 people, which is the smallest in the jurisdiction of JR West, and the section between Bingo-Ochiai Station and Bingo-Shobara Station is only 63 people, most of which are high school students and junior high school students who go to school.
For this reason, in August of last year, JR West and local governments along the railway line set up a study group and are continuing efforts to promote their use.
So far, we have conducted tours using special trains, increased the number of flights that are easy to transfer, and a group of residents of Shobara City along the line called for donations with sake wrapping and raised more than 3 million yen last year. From November, a wrapping train with the image of a professional baseball carp has been in operation.
However, at the study meeting last month, although the average number of passengers on holidays increased by 2.3 times compared to the same period of the previous year depending on the section, the number of people who use it on a daily basis such as commuting to work or school on weekdays has not increased. It was reported that the issues for promoting utilization are highlighted again.
High school and junior high school students who use the Geibi Line's Bingo Shobara Station said, "I use it every day to school. I think there is no way to reduce the number of flights, but I'm in trouble if the line is discontinued." It costs about 1000 yen, but the train costs 660 yen, so I use the Geibi line for financial reasons. However, there are few flights and it is inconvenient. "