Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger • Hacker News Board

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#11

Post by hkmurakami » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:20 AM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #7

Only girl in the village? They are going to close the line when she graduates. Therefore we can surmise there aren't any other younger girls. So much for having a social life. There are parts of Japan where children just aren't around anymore. Towns are becoming extended retirement homes. That's the truly depressing side of this story. At least this is happening today, when the few remaining kids in such situations c…

Generally speaking, the population of Japan is going down and the population of the Greater Tokyo area is going up.

Once youth hits college or working age, they disproportionately head for the capitol.

But then there's a small counter current where younger (say, 30's) are moving back to their original prefectures as they realize that they might be able to afford a better QoL making less money but also paying much less in expenditures.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#12

Post by pcurve » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:22 AM UTC

tempestn wrote: post #5

jeswin wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

a) The primary function of a school bus is to pick up children. The Railways have different priorities. b) Of course, way more expensive (operationally and financially) to run a train and maintain a railway line. Add: This story made my day.

Technically it just says the station is closing. It's possible the line will remain operational. (The train might be going by there anyway.) Although it did say the schedule was adjusted for the student, so maybe not. Edit, ah, so I guess a bunch of trains go by, and adjusting the schedule basically means deciding which trains stop at that station, not changing when trains run.

There are still plenty of stops before and after.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kami-Shirataki+Station/@43...

Kamikawa station to the west actually has sizeable population.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#13

Post by TeMPOraL » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:31 AM UTC

Lovely story. Hats off to Japan Railways. I'm also happy that The Atlantic/Citylab decided to publish this story. And thanks 'hudibras for submitting it here!

They say that it's the money that makes the world turn, and love only keeps it together. It would be easy for the Railways to ignore that girl. There's no economical reason to keep that station open. It's a waste of time and resources. And yet, someone decided to make that random act of kindness, for a single passenger.

It's a symbol. It represents the best side of our nature. That even in this big and complex world, full of heavy machines and complicated systems, we're still humans, and we care for one another. That we aren't slaves to the processes we brought into existence.

Random acts of kindness like that are happening every day around us. I think that as a society, we need to pay more attention to them. They bring hope and inspiration, which is infinitely better than yet another outrage.

And that girl, she will have one hell of a story to tell to her future friends.

--

The article links to a Facebook page with some more photos:

https://www.facebook.com/cctvnewschina/posts/110978428906239...

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#14

Post by c3534l » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:31 AM UTC

Wouldn't it be both cheaper, and friendlier to the environment to hire a person chauffeur for her? This is outrageously inefficient. Public transport only becomes worth it when it achieves relatively high ridership.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#15

Post by pmiller2 » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:34 AM UTC

There's a general term for these things: ghost stations (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_station).

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#16

Post by xyzzy4 » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:35 AM UTC

c3534l wrote: post #14

Wouldn't it be both cheaper, and friendlier to the environment to hire a person chauffeur for her? This is outrageously inefficient. Public transport only becomes worth it when it achieves relatively high ridership.

It would be even friendlier to the environment if she wasn't formally educated. Will educating her really provide that much for society to make it worthwhile?

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#17

Post by hkmurakami » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:35 AM UTC

c3534l wrote: post #14

Wouldn't it be both cheaper, and friendlier to the environment to hire a person chauffeur for her? This is outrageously inefficient. Public transport only becomes worth it when it achieves relatively high ridership.

This station is on an existing, operational line that would run trains on the tracks even if she weren't there (and this is what is going to happen once she graduates).

So the marginal cost of stopping at this station is actually not that large.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#18

Post by sandworm101 » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:35 AM UTC

hkmurakami wrote: post #11

sandworm101 wrote: post #7

Only girl in the village? They are going to close the line when she graduates. Therefore we can surmise there aren't any other younger girls. So much for having a social life. There are parts of Japan where children just aren't around anymore. Towns are becoming extended retirement homes. That's the truly depressing side of this story. At least this is happening today, when the few remaining kids in such situations c…

Generally speaking, the population of Japan is going down and the population of the Greater Tokyo area is going up. Once youth hits college or working age, they disproportionately head for the capitol. But then there's a small counter current where younger (say, 30's) are moving back to their original prefectures as they realize that they might be able to afford a better QoL making less money but also paying much les…

I hope some move back. From what I've seen/heard, the countryside is suffering radical population shifts. The following article has some great graphs to illustrate the point. There is a giant dip in the 20s (school) and a terrifying peak in the 55-60 range. But the greatest disparity is that there are many many more old (70s) than teenagers in the countryside. Across the nation those two groups are roughly equal.

http://www.tofugu.com/2015/03/06/japanese-countryside-emptyi...

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#19

Post by TeMPOraL » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:36 AM UTC

pcurve wrote: post #6

CydeWeys wrote: post #2

Well it's not that much different from a school bus that only picks up a single student at a particular bus stop, right?

considering the time it takes to decelerate, stop, accelerate, making this stop adds at least a full minute or minute and a half to one way journey. Everybody who is taking the train during the same leg as her, is essentially chipping in 1 minute of their time to support her transportation. And I think that's just beautiful.

Consider also the energy it takes to do those maneuvers. And that the station needs to be maintained; even though it doesn't seem to be staffed, the cost of keeping it in shape over many years was likely nonzero. I am not a train expert, but I suppose that stations require additional infrastructure - like lights and semaphores - which also needs to be maintained and regularly tested. Then you can start pricing in the opportunity cost of the land that could be sold or put to different use. And the organizational overhead of adjusting schedules to match the girl's lesson plan. It adds up to some considerable costs, of which the company management was surely aware...

...and yet they chose to ignore it. That is indeed just beautiful.

Re: Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

#20

Post by ayuvar » Sat, Jan 09, 2016, 4:37 AM UTC

c3534l wrote: post #14

Wouldn't it be both cheaper, and friendlier to the environment to hire a person chauffeur for her? This is outrageously inefficient. Public transport only becomes worth it when it achieves relatively high ridership.

The train is already going past the existing station, so I would imagine the additional cost of supporting the station for the two times a day the train stops there is relatively small - additional brake dust in the air, some extra energy burned.

It wouldn't surprise me if the accounting/management, HR and maintenance overhead for the station was higher than the cost of having the train make an extra stop twice a day.

It is a little surprising the station appears to be staffed based on the picture of the train schedule, but there is something to be said for producing that extra job. I am sure the station master who resides in that office is really happy it still exists.