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Isn't Japan like this as well? They have among the best rail systems in the world, so it's obviously possible to succeed with this model. I don't know the deta

Isn't Japan like this as well? They have among the best rail systems in the world, so it's obviously possible to succeed with this model. I don't know the details so I could be wrong, I just remember there being separate rail companies in different regions and cities.

bobthepanda 3y ago
While there are private railway networks doing their own thing, the overall national network is operated by the JR group, which was formerly the unified JNR until it was privatized. The companies do jointly operate though, in something that they call ‘mutual direct operation’ where they basically each agree to run trains on each others line as one continuous (to the customer) operation and split the fares.
- burkaman 3y ago
  Ok I didn't realize it used to be nationalized, that helps explain why cooperation between the companies is so much better.
  - bobthepanda 3y ago
    I would also maybe not characterize all of the groups as the best in the world. The profitable ones are in the urban areas of Honshu. JR Kyushu is staying afloat, and Hokkaido and Shikoku are losing money hand over fist.
starttoaster 3y ago
Taking into consideration that Japan is little more than a third of a million square kilometers in land area, while the US is over 9 million square kilometers, and the vertical that would impose to railway systems to develop infrastructure similarly. Comparing transit systems from/to the US and most other countries seems to be apples and oranges.
yabones 3y ago
Metro systems in Japan work a little differently. The main difference is that they're primarily real estate hedge funds owning most of the property in & near the stations, rather than just being a transport network. Their main interest is in creating economic hot spots around their stations, and it just so happens that moving people with ridiculous efficiency between those is the best way to do so.

bobthepanda 3y ago

While there are private railway networks doing their own thing, the overall national network is operated by the JR group, which was formerly the unified JNR until it was privatized. The companies do jointly operate though, in something that they call ‘mutual direct operation’ where they basically each agree to run trains on each others line as one continuous (to the customer) operation and split the fares.

burkaman 3y ago
Ok I didn't realize it used to be nationalized, that helps explain why cooperation between the companies is so much better.
- bobthepanda 3y ago
  I would also maybe not characterize all of the groups as the best in the world. The profitable ones are in the urban areas of Honshu. JR Kyushu is staying afloat, and Hokkaido and Shikoku are losing money hand over fist.

starttoaster 3y ago

Taking into consideration that Japan is little more than a third of a million square kilometers in land area, while the US is over 9 million square kilometers, and the vertical that would impose to railway systems to develop infrastructure similarly. Comparing transit systems from/to the US and most other countries seems to be apples and oranges.

yabones 3y ago

Metro systems in Japan work a little differently. The main difference is that they're primarily real estate hedge funds owning most of the property in & near the stations, rather than just being a transport network. Their main interest is in creating economic hot spots around their stations, and it just so happens that moving people with ridiculous efficiency between those is the best way to do so.