Japan's slowing economy brings lower ridership on high-speed trains

JR Central Bullet Train Traffic Falls for Fifth Straight Month - Bloomberg.com

JR Central Bullet Train Traffic Falls for Fifth Straight Month


By Chris Cooper

April 21 (Bloomberg) -- Central Japan Railway Co., the country’s largest operator of bullet trains, posted a fifth straight monthly drop in high-speed train passengers in March as companies slashed travel amid the deepest recession in over three decades.

The railway operator, dependent on bullet train travel for about 70 percent of its sales, had 6 percent fewer high-speed rail passengers last month, spokeswoman Michiko Ishizu said in a telephone interview in Tokyo today. It had an 11 percent drop for high-speed train passengers from April 1 to April 20, she said.

JR Central, as the company is also known, has said profit fell in the fiscal year ended March 31 amid less demand for travel as banks slash costs and manufacturers cut production and jobs. The railway operator had a 10 percent drop in bullet train passengers in February, the most since March 1995.

JR Central rose 0.4 percent to 559,000 yen at the close of trading in Tokyo today. It is down 28 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Cooper in Tokyo at ccooper1@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: April 21, 2009 02:55 EDT