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About Japan Private Railway Association
May 24, 2024
Greetings,
The Japan Private Railway Association (the “Association”) extends its deepest sympathies to those who affected by the Noto Earthquake at the beginning of the year and who continue to face severe conditions. As railway business operators, responding to natural disasters is a key challenge in reliably running our business. The entire Association is determined to make every effort to tackle this challenge.
Turning to railway transport, demand has recovered to some extent as life has returned to normal relative to the pre-COVID-19 baseline. Moreover, although inbound tourists had temporarily vanished, the number of visitors to Japan is now growing faster than before, accompanied by the yen’s record weakening, and this makes us feel that the long tunnel of the pandemic is finally behind us.
However, rail transport demand is not expected to return to the levels seen before the pandemic, given the increase in teleworking and other changes in lifestyle. We are also experiencing issues that hinder stable business continuity, such as the challenge of securing human resources. In particular, the business conditions confronting private regional railway companies are increasingly difficult. Moreover, we are required to take appropriate measures for achieving carbon neutrality in 2050, while also promoting barrier free transport.
Accordingly, under the business plan of the Association for the fiscal year 2024, we are focusing on strengthening member companies’ business initiatives, including public awareness activities in cooperation with the Japan Railway Group to enhance public understanding of environmentally friendly rail transport and promote its use. We are also taking steps to improve the provision of information for inbound tourists and encourage the use of rail transport. Other initiatives include the Mintetsu Career Train, a scheme for promoting mutual acceptance of human resources in the private railway sector, and staffing for measures against customer harassment.
As private railway companies, we realize the importance of the public mission we are expected to fulfill and will take on a number of challenges, including safer, more reliable, more comfortable and more convenient private railway services.
We humbly hope that we are able to continue relying on your understanding and cooperation.
Kazuyuki Harada
Chairman, Japan Private Railway Association
