Welcome to Japan Railway Journal!

Today's program is about the third-sector railway in Gifu Prefecture, Akechi Railway.

Under a very difficult financial situation,

Akechi Railway is launching various initiatives that utilize the unique characteristics of the communities.

I think this is a really interesting piece of rural railway.

First, let's take a look at Akechi Railway and the efforts being made.

Akechi Railway is a small railway company with 30 employees located in Gifu Prefecture, in central Japan.

In 1985, the Akechi Line was transferred from Japanese National Railways

and began operating as a third-sector company funded by Gifu Prefecture, Ena City, and others.

The 25.1 km long line connects Ena Station to Akechi Station and has 11 stations along the way.

The route is surrounded by tranquil country scenery.

One of the characteristics of this line is its long slopes,

as it runs through mountainous areas.

Due to such gradients and sharp curves,

the train takes about 50 minutes to travel the entire 25.1-kilometer line.

The annual ridership of Akechi Railway reached 896,000 in 1986,

but due to decreasing population along the line,

by 2022, it had decreased to 272,000 passengers.

Akechi Railway has been undertaking on various initiatives

since its opening in an effort to increase the number of passengers.

One of the initiatives started in 1987 was the operation of the "Healthy Train,"

which offers dishes made with "kanten" served onboard.

"Kanten," a local specialty agar-agar, is a jelly-like food made from seaweed.

This train became very popular, and the Akechi Railway started to gain attention as a tourist route.

In addition to the "Kanten" Train, various seasonal dining trains, such as the Mushroom Train,

and "Sake" Train for enjoying Japanese "sake," operate daily except Mondays.

We focus on offering items that cannot be enjoyed elsewhere during the season

so passengers would enjoy visiting here.

The Dining Train can be connected to a regular train and operated with up to three cars,

depending on the type and number of reservations.

The number of passengers on the Dining Train in fiscal year 2023 exceeded 11,000.

Among these trains, we visited the Dining Train, which operates in April and May.

This is the 'Grandma's "Bento" Train.'

This train is popular for its homemade "bento" boxes

made with gorgeous use of local ingredients.

This is a diner at a farmer's market in Ena City.

At 6:30 A.M., five locals gather in the kitchen to prepare lunch boxes for the Dining Train.

They skillfully cook simmered pumpkin and fried chicken.

They arrange the food on boxes while carefully considering the color and arrangement of the food.

I hope the passengers will think, 'Wow, it's beautiful.'

The participants of the Dining Train board at the first stop, Ena Station.

The train departed Ena Station at 12:25 P.M.

It's approximately a one-hour journey to Akechi Station.

On this day, 21 passengers boarded the Grandma's "Bento" Train

and 17 boarded the "Kanten" Train.

The Dining Trains run slower than regular trains to reduce the turbulence inside the car.

Staff from Akechi Railway board the Dining Train

to provide services such as tourism information along the line.

In a moment, you can see the peach blossoms in full bloom.

So beautiful!

Passengers enjoyed a leisurely train journey,

savoring their "bento" boxes while admiring the scenery from the window.

They made it with such hospitality and kindness.

The scenery was beautiful and reminiscent of my childhood.

It's a lot of fun drinking and having food on the train.

In addition to the Dining Trains,

Akechi Railway has been implementing various initiatives to expand its usage.

Naming rights for the trains and hand strap advertisements are good examples.

Train names for the naming rights will be displayed with a special headmark.

At Akechi Railway, businesses, as well as individuals can name the trains they operate.

Naming rights for the train are 5,500 yen per round trip of a regular train.

There are about 30 applications for naming rights each year,

and trains celebrating various occasions such as weddings and enrollments in schools.

They also accept applications for "hand strap advertisements" not only from businesses but also from individuals.

Currently, there are 148 advertisements displayed,

including support messages for the Akechi Railway,

wedding anniversaries, and event announcements.

The hand strap advertisements cost 5,500 yen and are displayed for one year.

The fact that we can do things that big companies can't is one of our strengths,

and hopefully, that's going to encourage more people to come and experience our events.

And in February of this year, they launched a new initiative in cooperation with the local government.

That is the installation of cameras to count passengers getting on and off the train.

Four cameras were installed on the ceilings of the vehicle.

The camera images are analyzed using AI to obtain passenger movement data.

Since Akechi Railway stations are not equipped with automatic ticket gates,

this system enables them to track the number of passengers getting on and off

at each station by date and hour, and day of the week.

Before the railway, we installed cameras on city buses

to count the number of passengers getting on and off.

Hopefully, it will help to optimize the timetable.

Akechi Railway and Ena City are trying to improve user convenience by identifying the transportation demand

and enhancing transfers between railway and bus routes.

Naming the train that's actually in operation sounds like a really interesting idea.

And I'd love to try it too.

Making those services like naming rights or hand strap adverts affordable for individuals is,

I think a really good idea, and will certainly contribute to increase in ridership,

because those who purchased one of them would like to see how their adverts are running on the train.

Yes, and the popularity of the Dining Train is amazing.

I've never seen a small regional railway operating a four-car train,

with three dining cars attached to a regular car.

Indeed. This Dining Train is now becoming the signature attraction for Akechi Railway.

After the Pandemic, we're now seeing the rebound or coming back of passengers.

In March this year, the company said that the dining trains carried nearly 1,300 passengers.

Wow, that's amazing.

At Akechi Railway, events utilizing railway vehicles are also gathering many visitors.

Please take a look.

Akechi Railway conducts events utilizing preserved steam locomotive.

This Class C12, built in 1940, operated on the former Japanese National Railways' Akechi Line

until it was withdrawn from service in 1973.

In 2015, Akechi Railway enabled this steam locomotive to run within station premises using the compressor.

The one supporting the operation of this steam locomotive behind the scene is Mr. Ito,

a former Japanese National Railways employee.

Mr. Ito has been voluntarily maintaining the locomotive for events.

I've been doing this to contribute to revitalizing the city.

The smiles of children leave the biggest impression on me.

When I show them how the locomotives work, they are really happy and leave with joy,

and that has become one of my pleasures.

Now, the company offers steam locomotive riding and driving experiences

for more than 20 days a year.

On this day, six people participated in the driving experience.

Mr. and Mrs. Fujiwara came from Tokyo.

They have ridden on steam locomotives in many places,

but this is their first time experiencing steam locomotive driving.

After reception and putting on the driver's uniform, it's time for the driving experience to begin.

Participants board the driver's cabin in pairs,

where they learn about the mechanism of the steam locomotive

and how to operate the equipment from Akechi Railway's staff.

Pressure, check. Off we go!

Then they get to see the driving maneuver demonstration.

And now, it's time to try driving.

The steam locomotive driving experience involves a round trip

of about 100 meters on a siding within the Akechi Station.

We're going slow but I'm nervous.

Put the brakes on.

Oh, it's here.

I did it too early.

There were many equipments we had to operate, and each one was quite heavy.

We'd ridden steam locomotives before, but now we admire the drivers a lot.

I was surprised at the weight of each piece of equipment.

The heaviness made me feel what it is like to move a locomotive.

In Ena City, there is another preserved Class C12 steam locomotive.

This one is displayed right next to the city library.

Ena City, established an "Exploratory Committee" in November 2023 with Akechi Railway,

economic organizations, and resident groups to investigate the possibility of restoring

and operating these two steam locomotives to run on coal.

They are hoping that running the steam locomotives will become the new highlight of area's tourism.

The Exploratory Committee estimates that the initial cost for the restoration operation,

including the maintenance of two steam locomotives and human resource development, will exceed 1 billion yen.

On the other hand, by providing services such as operations and related products,

they anticipate an economic ripple effect of up to 1.1 billion yen.

We are also considering utilizing crowdfunding and other means to raise funds.

We also anticipate more employment,

so we are approaching this with a positive mindset and determination.

Especially for residents in the municipalities along the line,

there are many areas where we need their cooperation.

So, after carefully examining the details, we would like to proceed if possible.

In the future, they will identify the funding and technical challenges leading up to the restoration

and plan to determine the feasibility of the steam locomotive restoration operation

by the end of March 2025.

In recent years, Akechi Railway has seen a gradual increase in foreign visitors.

People from overseas have also started participating in the driving experience of the diesel car.

The "Diesel Train Driving Experience" is a popular event that Akechi Railway has been holding since 2010,

and it takes place within the premises of Akechi Station.

At this year's driving experience held in March, two Italians participated.

Erika and Valerio were in Japan for six months to study Japanese.

I saw a video on Instagram about a man trying this experience,

and I knew that he really liked trains, so I decided to do this experience.

First, they learn how the diesel train works and how to operate the equipment in a lecture.

Since they were not familiar enough with Japanese,

the staff of Akechi Railway assisted them by explaining with gestures.

This is ATS. ATS stands for Automatic Train Stop.

Finally, they are ready to experience hands-on driving with the guidance of an instructor.

For the driving experience,

each participant will make one round trip on the approximately 150m on a siding within Akechi Station.

Thanks to the attentive assistance of the staff, they were able to fully enjoy the driving experience.

It was so fun, a little bit difficult, but funny.

Yeah, really, really, really fun.

Until now, there haven't been many foreign participants in such events at Akechi Railway,

but addressing inbound tourism is likely to become one of the challenges in the future.

We've incorporated English into announcements onboard and station name signs.

However, we're still not sure what exactly is well-received,

so we're very grateful and happy to have people come and give feedback.

It's surprising to see that foreign visitors are coming to the diesel train driving experience!

Indeed. Increasing number of inbound tourists are now seeking authentic Japanese experiences

that they cannot experience in major places like Tokyo.

However, from the receiving end, I think there's a bit of the challenging elements in that.

Probably they can start off with the very easiest bit like preparing English menus for the dining trains

or preparing English language textbook for the driving experience.

It seems like the steam locomotive driving experience is also very popular.

Yes, in fact, there are not many places where people can experience steam locomotive driving in Japan,

so it's good to see that Akechi Railway has restored that particular steam locomotive so that it can move.

However, operating a steam locomotive to hold a revenue service train is a completely different matter,

and I think it should be a very very difficult task.

I see.

But still, operating a steam locomotive holds a dream-like attraction.

So, I really hope that Ena city and Akechi Railway will make this dream a reality.

I can't agree more.

Railway Topics.

On March 18, a graduation ceremony for a local nursery was held

on the Tobu Railway's steam locomotive train running through Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture.

About 30 children and their parents boarded the SL Taiju from Shimo-Imaichi Station.

The graduation ceremony on the steam locomotive train has been held for the past two years

with the hope of creating special memories for the children.

The nursery school children received the graduation certificates from the city's mascot character.

Along the line, children from the same nursery and local residents

were waving their hands and offering blessings.

Everyone waving was heartwarming.

It became a special graduation ceremony for both the children and parents.

On April 13, a special steam locomotive operation was conducted on the Chichibu Railway in Saitama Prefecture.

This event commemorated the 80th anniversary of manufacturing the class C58 steam locomotive

operated by the Chichibu Railway.

The class C58 locomotive, coupled with old-style passenger cars manufactured around the same time,

made a round trip on the Chichibu Main Line.

The old-style coaches feature wooden interiors and four-person box seats.

I'm reminiscing about the trains and passenger cars in my childhood, immersing myself in a retro feeling.

On May 3rd, the SL Yamaguchi, a tourist train running on the JR Yamaguchi Line,

connecting Yamaguchi and Shimane Prefectures,

resumed operation for the first time in two years.

The 'SL Yamaguchi' had been out of service since May 2022

due to a malfunction in the tender of the Class D51 steam locomotive.

However, repairs have been completed, and it is now able to operate again.

My kid and I love steam locomotives, so we've been waiting for 2 years.

Carrying its full capacity of 245 passengers, the Class D51 departed.

I like the feel and smell of the smoke.

Steam locomotives are really amazing!