armagebedar

Railway lines, no matter where in the world you are, are rarely profitable in and of themselves. However, if you have a strong network of real estate ventures, the railway lines act to feed people to them -- be they homes, shopping centers, entertainment venues, or otherwise. That's essentially how Japan's private railways (and increasingly JR East/West/Central) have been making their money since the 1920s.

The question about what to do with these poorly-performing rural rail lines is this: must they be profitable or break-even for them to stay operational, or should they be operated as a public service? Personally, I think the latter is best if possible, but with fewer governments willing to financially back the lines and fewer private companies willing to engage in public-private partnerships (第三セクター法人) to run them, the only option may be to shut them down and replace them with buses -- or nothing at all.