Quake-hit railway in Kumamoto striving to win back passengers

August 18, 2017

MINAMIASO, KUMAMOTO PREF.- A local railway operator in Kumamoto Prefecture is working hard to win back passengers by taking various new steps about 16 months after the series of powerful earthquakes that hit the southwestern Japan prefecture.

Minami-aso Railway Co., a public-private third-sector firm, has still been unable to fully resume the operations of its 17.7-kilometer railway services.

"We hope people will come and enjoy a beautiful summer in the Aso region," a company official said.

Operations of the railway, which links Takamori Station in the town of Takamori and Tateno Station in the village of Minamiaso, both in the prefecture, were suspended entirely soon after the April 2016 quakes partly because some of the tracks were washed away due to landslides triggered by the temblors.

The 7.1-kilometer section between Takamori Station and Nakamatsu Station went back into service some three months after the earthquakes. But the remaining 10.6-kilometer section between Nakamatsu and Tateno stations remains cut off.

The company is hoping to put the line fully back to operation as soon as possible. But that will take at least five years, officials said.

Currently, three daily round-trip services are offered on the Takamori-Nakamatsu section on weekdays and four on weekends and public holidays. Jiji Press