As a result of the Tohoku Shinkansen extension, the part of the tohoku main line running parallel are set to become part of the 3rd sector IGR and Aomori railways

While the the Hokuriku Shinkansen will relegate parts of the Shinetsu and Hokuriku lines into the 3rd sector Shinano railway and cause their other parts to become abandoned.

The Kyushu Shinkansen upon completion will relegate more of the Kagoshima Main Line to the 3rd sector Hisatsu Orange Railway, and the Kyushu Shinkansen's Nagasaki route may cause the Nagasaki main line to become de-electrified.

Sounds worrying OP, whatever you do don't let another Beeching http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Beeching
Hack up your excellent transport system.
That would be a crime against all humanity.

>>114339
Japan National Railways underwent something similar to a lessor extent when it became the 7 JRs of today.

The main problem is the situation is still progressively getting worse as far as local and rural railways are concerned.

>>114331 Making it worse still are Japan's Democrats' proposal to make highways toll-free. It's frightening to think what would happen to railway transportation outside of urban centers if they are to really go through with it.

So you're saying you don't think rail can compete without roads having a handicap? That's terrible, defeatist thinking.

You know, the real reason rail is declining is those town's populations are declining. Japan's population is clustering around the big cities. There's less and less incentive to serve smaller and smaller towns.

>>114357
>>without roads having a handicap
That's not to say JR dosen't have a handicap. Have you seen the exuberant Shinkansen fares and how overnight buses effectively killed sleepers?

>>There's less and less incentive to serve smaller and smaller towns
And as it progresses, one day there would few, if any services remaining.

>>114394
>>exuberant
Pretty sure you mean exorbitant

>>114394
and few if any people remaining in those places. This isn't an issue that is unique to Japan, many many places have dealt with things like this.

Also to rail competing with out roads having a handicap; Even in places with high levels of public transport, roads are one of the most subsidized infrastructure, the tolls on roads are no more of a handicap than the fares of the train. You don't really think roads are these cheap and easy to build things do you? Many larger expressways cost more per KM than priority track high speed rail and yet have a smaller capability of moving people.

>>114357
Roads having a toll would be a handicap only if trains were free to ride, but nice try, troll.

Support your local railways!

So what do you propose to solve this problem then? Base of the problems seems to be the declining population in said areas?

>>114843
Huge government subsidies a la JNR

sux the new gov is going to suck up all those tolls from the toll roads, say sayanora to service on jr and the buses. once that toll is gone say hello to american highway congestion.

jr isnt going under, but service cuts are coming as passengers and farebox recovery dries up.

>>114952
And that's not all the Democrats are doing. They want to give filthy non-citizen foreign chinks and gooks voting rights, cancel visits to shrines, allow tens of thousands of illegal immigrants from communist china, and let korera walk all over Japan.

Some nice HOPE AND CHANGE they got themselves into.

>>114972

No surprise there either.

>>114331

having visited Japan several times and knowing quite a few residents, I think their toll freeways are brilliant. Congestion already occurs in every Japanese city, no matter the size.. it would be a horror if the expressways became the same way!

I wholeheartedly support the train-based transport system. It's efficient, high-capacity and environmentally-friendly by comparison. As the OP mentioned though, it is increasingly becoming isolationist in its design and operation.. by that I mean it only truly works wen integrated from door-to-door.. which it no longer is in Japan, outside the megacities. Sure you can go door-to-door in Tokyo, or Tokyo to Nagoya or Hiroshima.. but what about Aomori, or Sapporo or Matsuyama?

For a US comparison.. it's like how Chicago or New York have great integrated transit, but the minute you hit Aurora or New Jersey, you're dumped on the edge of town and left for dead.

Once you get out of those major centres, in Japan you still have to own a car because the 'local' train station is 5-10 miles away, and its only served 3 times a day anyways. and this is the root cause of the traffic congestion you now see in small japanese towns of 40-50k and up. This pattern of rail decline is very familiar to residents of the UK in the last 20 years too.

Good night sweet prince?

If the Democrats want to make Highways toll-free, then can they make JR tokkyu fee-free?

>>114972
[citation needed]

>>114988
I hope that day may never come

waaah waah waah people will get where their going creeper and easier and faster with more cargo/flexibility!! oh no!! what will we ever do!

>>114988
nobody uses mass transit in US cities, who wants to be put on the bus with a bunch of niggers.

>>115613

No, that's no one uses public transit.

>>115613
>>bus with a bunch of niggers
That's exactly the problem. Modern public transit in America should work to attract professionals, salarimen, yuppies, students, and respectable people in general.

>>115612
I don't really like the idea of going anywhere creepy.

>>114846

% of happening = ?

>>114972

Was that seriously part of their campaign or is it one of BS they'll commit without openly telling people but that most *smart* people will know about it per se?

>>116323
The Democrats have been saying in public as of late, and have hinted at it before.

>>116363

www.Japanprobe it.

it is a shame. people need trains

>>114988

Hey man, I can't speak for Aomori or Matsuyama, but Sapporo has a pretty nice rail network. I stayed there in 2006 for a month, and between a bike and the trains, I was all set. Also, I'm pretty sure Matsuyama is all sorted out too, what with Iyo Railways and JR Shikoku.

The thing about declining rural railways is indeed mainly due to declining population, but also in part to JR's demand for a profit. If you live in the countryside and a train only serves your station 10 times a day or less, then what you need is in fact more service--say, every hour. Electrification wouldn't be bad either, since that improves acceleration and overall efficiency. If a rural line runs frequently and cleanly, then the drawing effect of the train can even overturn the drawing effect of nearby cities, by connecting the villages to the cities more efficiently. More businesses have an opportunity (and reason) to set up in the villages, so more will, and the villages can begin to recover.

...but since that would involve running the line at a deficit, then it will never happen. Sux.

i herd you like that

/n/ewfags cant asparagus

rural railways in Japan?

>>118651
It's similar to a downward spiral effect in ecology. As service is cut back, less people take local trains, in turn leading to the train company seeing less demands and cutting back service further. It ends with the line being abandoned.

>>Electrification wouldn't be bad either
JR Kyushu is actually planning to de-electrify (where not transfered to 3rd sector) the Nagasaki Main Line when the Kyushu Shinkansen's finished. I doubt electrification of rural and local lines would be a popular trend.

>>...but since that would involve running the line at a deficit, then it will never happen.
Is there any hope with these Democrats? Do they believe in pork for their hometowns in the form of railway subsidies? Will they finish building the 未成線 across the country leftover from JNR's breakup or are they destined to be abandoned like the Takachiho Railway?

Is there any chance of the passage of another Railway Construction Act and revival of the 赤字83線?