Located on the Sanko Line, which is scheduled to close in 2018 due to chronic decline in ridership since it opened
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(since the line opened, that is--not since Uzui Station opened)
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The Sanko Line goes thru beautiful countryside, but was rural when it opened, and has drastically depopulated since then...
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Let's examine the route on a
#TrainTwitter special investigation: it begins at Gotsu, which sees 373 riders per daypic.twitter.com/u8Hh0qr74C
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Next is Gotsu Hommachi (0 riders), Chigane (0 riders), Kawahira (6 riders), and Kawado (38 riders)pic.twitter.com/OgwYIQbxZo
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Next: Tazu (7 riders), Iwami Kawagoe (9 riders), Shikaga (3 riders), and Imbara (4 riders)pic.twitter.com/TcvcW4W6f9
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Iwami Kawamoto (23), Kirohara (1), Take (1), Ombara (3)pic.twitter.com/baYfYHpSbi
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Iwami Yanaze (7), Akatsuka (2), Kasubuchi (23), Hamahara (8) On the one hand, the low frequency (4 trips per day) depresses ridership...pic.twitter.com/4vAtKMCTeK
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...but on the other, very few people live here to begin with Sawadani (1), Ushio (0), Iwami Matsubara (2), Iwami Tsuga (3)pic.twitter.com/gdhaQUafDh
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Next is Uzui, which we already saw--then Ikawashi (0), Kuchiba (3), Gobira (0), Sakugiguchi (9)pic.twitter.com/RxUMQR9eZr
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Koyodo has no information on ridership whatsoever...then Shikijiki (12), Nobuki (0), Tokogori (1)pic.twitter.com/suHP8qUeq9
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Sorry, that's "Tokorogi" in prev tweet--then Funasa (2), Nagatani (no data), Awaya (no data), and Ozekiyama (no data)pic.twitter.com/fpmH3hjpTk
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...and with that, the line finally reaches its terminal at Miyoshi, which sees 585 riders per daypic.twitter.com/JcBwKs2uNj
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It should be clear from these figures that most ridership at Gotsu and Miyoshi is from *other* lines at those stations...not the Sanko Line
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It should also be clear that maintaining the Sanko Line's stations and track is impossible to accomplish with its meagre fare revenue
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The line is run by JR West, which makes plenty of money operating the Sanyo Shinkansen and commuter lines in Greater Osaka...
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...and this is the only thing keeping the line around. Since neither the locals nor the far-off patrons in Osaka really show up to use it...
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...it makes no sense to keep the route open any longer. The money spent maintaining it would be better used in Osaka, where it comes from.
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If JR West were taxpayer instead of customer supported, than locals on this route would still be paying for it *after* it closed...
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...and indeed, taxpayer pressure is what prompted the then-nationalized JNR to build the line in the first place!
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Now, *local* tax revenue never covered the line's costs even then--but locals were paying for rail either way, and wanted something for it.
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After privatization, locals stopped paying taxes for it--but far off urbanites, who had already covered most of its cost through their taxes
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...continued to pay for its upkeep through their fares. Its closure reflects the fact that they don't see any point in paying for it either.
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