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Japan Keeps This Defunct Train Station Running for Just One Passenger

citylab.com

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

#161

Post by canthonytucci »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #140
canthonytucci wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a very similar thought. I'm surprised how many people are calling this "beautiful" and getting all misty eyed, this feels like an inelegant solution. I would love to be wrong and hear that someone did the math and found that stopping the train wasn't any more wasteful than just sending this girl a taxi or something, but I have some doubts. I am unfamiliar with trains, but seeing how cars are tuning themselves o…

It is an inelegant solution. It's not something you want to scale up. It's not something "right" by Kant's categorical imperative. The lesson to take from this story isn't "keep every train running, no matter how little economical sense it makes it". Such an attitude, universalized, would indeed be a disaster for the world. No, the lesson is that when running and optimizing systems, we should not forget why are we ha…

My entire opposition to this is based on the idea that slowing an accelerating a train is grossly more inefficient in terms of pollution and fuel waste than just finding a way to get her to the next station on a transport that does not weigh as much. If I'm wrong about that I'm happy to go back to feeling nice about this.

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

#162

Post by geomark »

funkyy wrote: post #156
TeMPOraL wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Upon reflection, I want to apologize for the overly pessimistic and harsh tone I chose to use. No worries. Your points were fair and your tone wasn't harsh. > Thanks for your optimism and hope for the good in all of us. I could use some of that too. I try. And it's hard, too. But I think we need to do it, we need to learn to refocus on positive things, because our own attitudes on individual and social level form a…

Such a nice conversation is possible only on HN I believe lately.

Agree. I see civil discussions like this one more often on HN than anywhere else.

And yet we have big shot VC's bashing HN as "Hater News" if the conversation doesn't support their narrative. When I see a HN thread turn predominately negative on a topic it's usually because it deserves it.

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

#163

Post by pilsetnieks »

jpatokal wrote: post #105
desdiv wrote: post #39

>“Why should I not want to die for a country like this when the government is ready to go an extra mile just for me,” one commenter wrote on CCTV’s Facebook page. “This is the meaning of good governance penetrating right to the grassroot level. Every citizen matters. No Child left behind!” Ironically, the railway is a private one, i.e. Japan Railways Hokkaido[0] is private corporation, not a government agency. And ye…

Japan Railways Hokkaido[0] is private corporation, not a government agency Notionally. In practice, their operations are fairly minutely controlled -- sorry, "guided" -- by various levels of government, which explains, among many other things, why the JRs continue to operate tons of lines that are loss-making.

It's public transportation, it's heavily regulated by national and/or municipal governments in most countries.

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

#164

Post by m-i-l »

facetube wrote: post #50
pmiller2 wrote: post #15

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

BBC covered a similar situation in Britain. One of the arguments for keeping them running: inactive lines quickly fall in to disrepair (physically or legally/procedurally), which could actually end up costing more, assuming demand is projected to increase and the line would have to be reopened. http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20150723-why-britain-has-sec...

Indeed. There was a discussion about these on HN last year: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9936028 .

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

#165

Post by irixusr »

This story is another example of how mismanaged the Japanese rail system has become. It would be cheaper, and more environmentally friendly, to pick this girl up in a Escalade limousine, provide a tutor to review her lesson plan, and then have the car idle in the parking lot all day.

We can have a conversation about how changing demographics have created this situation. Whether or not the urbanization of Japanese society is a good thing. On the future role of trains in Japan. Why Japanese are giving up on sex and baby making (kinda hard to maintain and justify an infrastructure built for 150 million people when your pop. is shrinking at 0.7% annually).

But this story should not be lauded, as it is a symptom of the sickness of their society today.

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

#166

Post by [deleted] »

TeMPOraL wrote: post #13

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…

[deleted]

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

#167

Post by funkyy »

geomark wrote: post #162
funkyy wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Such a nice conversation is possible only on HN I believe lately.

Agree. I see civil discussions like this one more often on HN than anywhere else. And yet we have big shot VC's bashing HN as "Hater News" if the conversation doesn't support their narrative. When I see a HN thread turn predominately negative on a topic it's usually because it deserves it.

I didn't even knew about it. Not really "Hater News" but more of Non-Circle Jerk News like PH or Inbound.org

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

#168

Post by kbutler »

greggman wrote: post #56
hkmurakami wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The thing is, they (the headline) say "Japan", but this only happened because it's way out in the countryside where people have a "village mentality" of helping each other out (but the trade off is that everyone sticks their nose in your business). Japan railways itself split into several separate companies upon privatization. This would never happen in Tokyo. As much as we think of the country as being monolithic (i…

You have a vastly different experience and interpretation than me. First off people will stop during rush hour in Tokyo to help people. Happens all the time. Tokyo is not cold. I've never seen anyone have trouble getting someone to take their picture, ever. I'm not denying your experience but I'm going to claim it's not common. Second, while it's sad people feel the need to take their own lives it is arguably the hei…

> And I'm sorry if you think mothers on strollers aren't a PITA on public transport in a city as busy as Tokyo. That sounds like a fully western (or maybe American POV). F everyone else, I have my needs and F you if they inconvenience hundreds or thousands of people.

Wow. I feel sorry for disabled people in wheelchairs around you. And for your mother.

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

#169

Post by hasenj »

lentil_soup wrote: post #152
Radim wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your harsh judgements of Japan's trajectory make assumptions that are not evidently true (to me). What do you mean, " problems with low fertility"? That looks a highly desirable outcome to me, a blessing in disguise. Sure, most governments run Ponzi-like schemes and depend on "exponential growth" all around to finance themselves (pensions), but that's an economic snafu. Ultimately unsustainable in any case. Not sure…

the problem is when population has negative growth, that means less working people need to mantain more old people ... and it gets worse with time

I think that's the ponzi scheme he's referring to

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

#170

Post by TeMPOraL »

funkyy wrote: post #167
geomark wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. I see civil discussions like this one more often on HN than anywhere else. And yet we have big shot VC's bashing HN as "Hater News" if the conversation doesn't support their narrative. When I see a HN thread turn predominately negative on a topic it's usually because it deserves it.

I didn't even knew about it. Not really "Hater News" but more of Non-Circle Jerk News like PH or Inbound.org

The things I've seen throughout my life have taught me that even if you'd have a community of saints, who are perfect and know no sin, there will still be people who will find all kind of negative things to say about that community, whether because of misunderstanding, different worldviews or just plain malice. It's best to not be quick to trust criticisms of third parties, especially when they try to paint a group in a very negative light.
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