Hapi-Line Fukui: Born Alongside the Shinkansen - Japan Railway Journal

[Music] welcome to Japan Railway Journal I'm Mickey Clark and today I will be joining you to bring you the program good to see you Mickey good to see you too today's program is all about the third seor Railway and fukui prefecture happy line fukui whenever a shin conen Line opens the conventional line that runs parallel to the shinkansen will be transferred from the Jr to another operator this also happened in March this year when the hok shansen extension opened and happy line Fuki was set up to succeed part of the hokiku main line within Fuki prefecture oh that's really interesting I want to know more about it first let's take a look at happy line fukui on March 16th the Haku Riku Shin Canen which connected Tokio to kazawa in Ishikawa prefecture was extended to tsuruga in fukui Pre [Music] prefecture all along the line Opening Ceremonies were held at the newly established shinkansen stations with many people coming to celebrate the opening [Music] with the extension the travel time between Tokyo and fukui stations was shortened by up to 36 minutes the shortest time now being just 2 hours and 51 minutes with the introduction of the shinkansen line visitor numbers are expected to increase causing an economic ripple effect throughout fui prefecture [Music] however parallel conventional lines have cause for concern that's because parallel conventional lines generally separate from Jr when a shinkansen Line opens and become third sector Railways funded by local governments and other entities tourists traveling from far away and business people for commuting to and from work can opt to take the shin Canen as a result the parallel conventional Line is now primarily used by local residents which will mean a significant decrease in Revenue compared to the Jr days with the extension of the hokar Riku shinkansen the section of the hokar Riku main line that Jr West operated in fukui prefecture became happy line fukui the line which has 18 stations covers a distance of 84.3 km between Dai station near the prefectual border of ishik prefecture and suda station all limited Express trains that previously connected Oraka and Nagoya in Western Japan to kanazawa now terminate at suda station with only local trains operating on the line the new name Hy line for kui embodies the happiness that comes from connecting the various locations along the road way [Music] line the night before the Jr line officially became happy line for kuie staff set about replacing all of the station signs at a rapid [Music] Pace spot the Rolling Stock inherited from Jr Now features a pink and green stripe along the car body the company's corporate colors There are 16 train sets with 32 cars in total at the time of opening the company had a total of 280 staff including approximately 100 full-time employees as well as staff areed from Jr West and temp staff provided by the prefectural government newly hired employees receive training for sales positions and station Counter duties new hires in technical positions received guidance from employees of Jr West the plan is to hand handle all operational tasks entirely inhouse within the next 10 years Hy line for kui's president Mr oawa previously worked as a senior official at the fui prefectural office the company's largest shareholder but prior to joining the prefectual office he worked for Japanese national Railways considering his background Mr agawa was the perfect choice to lead happy Line fui This is fui station the hub for happy line [Music] foui in the Jr days the platforms used to accommodate 12 car Express trains now they only serve local trains with two to four [Music] cars even so during rushar there are still many passengers just like there were in the Jr days currently Hy line for kuy's Target is 20,000 passengers per [Music] day however due to inflation regular fair and commuter pass fees went up 15% and student pass fees increased by 5% from what they were in the Jr days [Music] [Music] super this is sua station The Terminal Station of happy line fui overseen by Jr West the station also Services Jr's local trains the shinkansen station building is located to the east of the conventional Line Station building on the ground floor platforms for Jr's limited Express trains coming from the directions of Osaka and Nagoya have been [Music] constructed until recently passengers could take an Express train to fukui and kazawa using conventional lines without transferring but with the opening of the shinkansen they now have to change at suda station [Music] despite the initial inconvenience happy line fui sees an opportunity to increase its passenger numbers to make transfers easier moving walkways were installed along the connecting passageway and the timetable was rearranged to make the wait time between connections 20 minutes or less [Music] I thought the opening of the shinkansen uh would be a happy occasion for the area along the line and region but in reality it seems quite challenging yes indeed because the parallel conventional lines would almost always experience decreased ridership and uh declining the ridership would almost always mean financial difficulties for The Operators that operate those lines of course they are the third sector Railway operators so they can expect some subsidies from the public fund but uh that kind of subsidies are not guaranteed so I think it's almost inevitable for those operators to the fairs oh but um Regional Railways are vital means of transportation for people who can't or wouldn't drive such as students or elderly so I really hope that they would um keep operating sta yes and in order to realize that stable operation those operators should have good strategies to raise their income you know and good uh example we that we can see in many parts of Japan would be to operate tourist trains so that they can boost the number of people coming into the region as tourists and uh there should be other possibilities as the strategies but anyway happy line fukui should have one or more of them yes next let's take a look at the strategies happy line fuku plans to [Music] implement when happy line for kui took over the operation they had to pay Jr for the station buildings tracks and Rolling Stock fi prefecture negotiated to keep the price of these Railway assets as low as possible [Music] initially Jr intended to hold on to the commercial facilities inside the station buildings and under the viaduct however recognizing their value as potential sources of income for happy line for kui persistent negotiations eventually led to their acquisition Hy line for kui's main income stream comes from Passenger fairs with an expected annual income of 1.8 billion yen 75% of this income comes from commuter and student passes from the moment happy line fi took over the operation it has worked to improve services for its regular [Music] passengers back when Jr ran the operation there was approximately one local train per hour the company now runs two local trains per hour [Music] in addition during the morning and evening rush hours rapid trains were introduced operating between fukui and suruga the introduction of Rapid trains has reduce the travel time between fukui and suruga by about 10 [Music] minutes with the discontinuation of The Limited Express trains the number of local trains 102 when Jr controlled the operation has increased to 131 which includes rapid trains another significant source of income comes from track usage fees paid by Jr Freight for the passage of freight trains this line which is a major Logistics route sees over 30 freight trains daily generating track usage fees of over 1.7 billion yen [Music] annually happy line for kui aims for an annual revenue of 4 billion yen combining income from Passenger sales and track usage fees among other other s despite this for K prefracture estimates the company will lose approximately 7 billion yen in its first 11 years however it's prepared to make up the deficit in light of this the prefecture and Hy line fui are collaborating with other third sector Railways to reduce operating costs in fui prefecture there are two leading third sector Railways fukui Railway which operates tram services in and around fui city and chisen Railway a tourist route in fui [Music] prefecture under the prefecture's guidance the companies have been collaborating jointly purchasing materials and consolidating contracts for construction projects since the 2020 fiscal year this initiative has already saved the companies approximately 5% compared to if they had made individual purchases and contracts now happy line fi is looking to join the initiative as well [Music] recently the three companies released a joint three wellways open ticket which could be used on all three wellway lines to celebrate the opening of happy line fi in addition happy line fi has begun collaborating with third sector Railways across prefectural borders including IR ishika Railway in ishika prefecture and inal Kaz Toyama Railway in Toyama prefecture IR Ishikawa Railway took over the section that runs from kazara To Dai station West of kanazawa from Jr when the Haku Riku shinen was extended to fui prefecture it's now responsible for the approximately 65 km long train operation although the operating distance has tripled it's estimated that the company will lose 4.2 billion yen over the next 10 years in response IR ishika Railway built a new station which is expected to increase the number of passengers the station is located in a new residential area area being developed by hakusan City the opening of the new nishim mat Park and Ride station was subsidized by the local government and City together I cha Railway and Hy line fui Now operate 44 daily through Services between fui and canaza [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] with IO Kaz to Yama Railway happy line fui and a ishika railway are working together to attract tourists which include plans to run AO Kaz Toyama railway's popular tourist train the story of 13,000 ft in all three prefectures [Music] as the president of happy line fuky said it's it's important to consider the line as a good asset but not a burden and use it for the benefit of the local community and I thought this was a good way of thinking and one thing I should point out here is that that section of the Railway happy line Fuki operates is still a very vital link for the entire um narage network of Japan which the country of Japan cannot afford to lose having said that now happy line fukui is owned by the people of fukui which means the company can and should make their line a better serve the local community for example um opening a couple of new stations or running faster bigger or more frequent Trends would be among the future possibilities for improvements oh it truly is a railway for the local people next up is tourist trains in style where we introduce amazing tourist trains from all across [Music] Japan nuga is a tourist train operated by the third sector nagat gawa Railway in gefu prefecture it runs from minor UTA station a transfer station for the Jr takayama line to guo haiman station covering approximately 47 km in about an hour and a half the royal red two-car train stands out against a Scenic landscape along the [Music] line the interior design is resplendent in Wood sourced from gfu prefecture creating a warm atmosphere in addition local traditional crafts are adorned throughout allowing passengers to experience the Region's history and culture there is a range of seating options available from four person seats to counter seats catering to both groups and solo Travelers in car 1 curtains separating the seats in the aisle create a compartment like [Music] Ambience there is also a variety of tour plans including a meal plan and a sweets [Music] plan today we are taking the lunch course at 10:45 a.m. the train depart Min Auto station the two attendants in each car are responsible for serving meals and providing tourist information about the area along the [Music] line the lunch course features a creative menu devised by a chef from a local [Music] hotel it's filled with a variety of dishes made from local ingredients such as h of beef and locally farmed chicken the train travels along the picturesque nagara River slowing down as it approaches Scenic spots along the [Music] way at Oya station a passing station on the single track line the train makes a 15minute stop while waiting for a train to pass the passengers freely enjoy this time with some taking photos by the lead car finally the train approaches its final destination gujo haiman station with its Scenic views and delicious Cuisine this Railway journey is one to [Music] cherish the tourist train nagara operates Main on Fridays weekends and holidays making one round trip per day [Music]

Channel: NHK WORLD-JAPAN

Views: 21,869

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Id: LVv82BIdL_0

Length: 28min 5sec (1685 seconds)

Published: Wed May 08 2024