Is this station really needed?
As we saw in Part I of this article, shinkansen has played a major role in Japan's economic and social development. However, there are some questions about this new railway system. One of them concerns the way the location of stations is determined. Let us see why the average distances between some stations on the Nagano and Kyushu shinkansen lines are so short as mentioned in Part I.
There are mainly two kinds of shinkansen stations. One is those which are connected to conventional railway services. The other is those where only shinkansen trains stop. It goes without saying the former are far more efficient in increasing the ridership because they allow passengers to travel far by simply transferring to other lines. But that is impossible with the latter. Then, why do they make such stations exclusive to shinkansen services?
Two attached tables show the stations, ridership and connections for both Nagano and Kyushu shinkansens (which were questioned in Part I). According to Table 1, the ridership at Annnaka-Haruna is exceptionally small. Similarly, as Table 2 shows, very few people use Shin-Omuta, Shin-Tamana and Chikugo-Funagoya stations on Kyushu Shinkansen.
Table 1【The ridership of Nagano Shinkansen】(April, 2011-March, 2012)
Line |
Station |
Daily ridership (*) |
Connections |
Nagano |
Takasaki |
27,710 |
JR, Private railway |
Annaka-Haruna |
270 |
|
|
Karuizawa |
2,732 |
Private railway |
|
Sakudaira |
2,682 |
JR |
|
Ueda |
2,585 |
Private railway |
|
Nagano |
20,859 |
JR, Private railway |
(*)The number includes users of conventional railway services.
Table 2 【The ridership of Kyushu Shinkansen】(April-December 2011)
Line |
Station |
Daily ridership (estimate)(*) |
Connections |
Kyushu |
Hakata |
107,110 |
JR, Private railway, Subway |
Shin-Tosu |
1,750 |
JR |
|
Kurume |
2,650 |
JR |
|
Chikugo-Funagoya |
700 |
JR |
|
Shin-Omuta |
750 |
|
|
Shin-Tamana |
950 |
|
|
Kumamoto |
13,550 |
JR, Street car |
|
Shin-Yatsushisiro |
1,950 |
JR, Private railway |
|
Shin-Minamata |
1,000 |
Private railway |
|
Izumi |
2,100 |
JR, Private railway |
|
Sendai |
2,900 |
JR, Private railway |
|
Kagoshima-Chuo |
14,150 |
JR, Street car |
(*)The number includes users of conventional railway services.
The ridership at Kyushu Shinkansen's Chikugo-Funagoya is quite small although it is connected to JR. This is because JR Chikugo-Funagoya was once an unmanned station which few people had used. It is quite unnatural that three less-used stations are located in a row.
Such stations are often called “politically-motivated" stations. It means that local politicians have forcibly drawn shinkansen to run and stop in their constituencies as part of their campaign to get more voters. Of course, not all unconnected stations are politically motivated. However, the location of Nagano Shinkansen's Annaka-Haruna, which is extremely less used, and Kyushu Shinkansen's three similar stations in a row is apparently mysterious.
Locals will be proud to have shinkansen stop in their hometown. It may surely make their life easier and more convenient. However, is shinkansen the only way to enhance their convenience? Their life can perhaps be made easier if conventional railway and bus services are made more frequent. Do they really have to rely solely on super express trains?”
Currently, what is called “Chuo Shinkansen” is in the planning phase. The scheme is to run linear motor trains between Tokyo and Osaka at a speed of up to 500 kilometers per hour. Surprisingly, the planned service might stop at Hashimoto, a JR Yokohama Line station a 20-minute train ride from Chuo University. Furthermore, a new station is planned to be located between Shin-Yokohama and Odawara to let the linear motor service connected to Tokaido Shinkansen. It may be all right to increase the number of stations. But let us hope that the same mistake with Nagano and Kyushu shinkansens is not repeated.
Written by: Aoki Daisuke