> Which is why they shut down vast miles of their networks in unprofitable rural areas... The Japanese countryside is ageing and depopulating. Any railway oper

> Which is why they shut down vast miles of their networks in unprofitable rural areas... The Japanese countryside is ageing and depopulating. Any railway operator, public or private, has to face this reality. You can either shut them down, or reduce service, or subsidize them; all three are painful in their own ways, and all three are done in different places, depending on local conditions. Furthermore, a line may be "unprofitable" on paper, but still be worthwhile overall because of network effects. The rural decline is at least being managed with more rationality than the senseless Beeching cuts[1] (and at that time, British Rail was wholly under state control). [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeching_cuts https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beeching_cuts