Or the Senmo Main Line, in Hokkaido. A bit better: 9 trips a day in each direction.pic.twitter.com/wSFNQFBvUy
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It may sound harsh, but it meshes pretty well with Japan's broader demographic trends--rural areas like the land around the Sanko Line...
...have seen steep population declines in the wake of economic stagnation. Most young people leave for the cities to make a living.
The best opportunities for scenic rural railways are to be found in the outer hinterlands of major cities, too far for commuters...
...to suburbanize them, but near enough to benefit from city technology and capital. This ties in directly to what Jacobs discusses...
...in Cities and the Wealth of Nations.
Epilogue: with all this in mind, let me be clear about what my intentions for transit in greater New England would mean...
This network is maximum buildout--what would actually materialize would be whatever parts of this Boston, NYC, Montreal could support.pic.twitter.com/Ocnt0sF8sy
And by "support" I do not mean with tax revenue, propping up unproductive lines in stagnating regions...
...I mean what the surplus revenue from urban *ridership* could support--the way it works in Japan. This means that the core of the plan...
...is about improving transit *in those major cities.* Perhaps if a city like Moncton starts booming, it could join the club.
But, I wouldn't hold my breath. Further discussions in this vein will focus less on the train side, more on the econ side.
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