Japanese Railway History 5地方轻轨.docx

Japanese Railway History 5地方轻轨.docx

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JapaneseRailwayHistory5地方轻轨

JapaneseRailwayHistory5

ConstructionofLocalRailways 

EiichiAoki

DevelopmentofLightRailwayPolicy

Asaresultofthenationalizationofrailwaysin1906-1807,17leadingprivaterailwaycompanieswerepurchasedbythegovernment,andonly20privatesteamrailwaycompaniescontinuedoperating.Generally,thesecompaniesoperatedshortlines,andonlyfourhadanetworkofmorethan50km.Inaddition,therewereotherrailwaysoperatingelectric,horse-drawnandman-poweredtrains,runningmainlyontramways.

Constructionofrailwayswasbelievedtocontributetoregionaldevelopmentandactivationofagrarianeconomies,andmanylocalcommunitieswereenthusiasticaboutintroducingrailwaysintheirdistricts.Alreadyin1907,railwayentrepreneurslikeKeijiroAmenomiyaweremakingpositiveinvestmentsinintroducingsteamlocomotivesforhorsedrawnorhuman-poweredtramwayrunningonroads,andeightsteamtramwaysof762mm（2'6"）gaugeunderhiscontrol,weremergedintotheDainihonTramwayCo.,Ltd.in1908.

However,thegovernmentconsidereditundesireblethattramwayswithlimitedtrainoperationandsafetyappliances,spreadacrossJapanaspopularbranchlines.Lightrailways,havinganintermediatetechnicalstandardbetweentramwaysandordinaryrailways,werethoughttobemoredesirable,forthispurpose.

Inthosedays,Japan'srailwaypolicywaspromotedundertheleadershipofShimpeiGoto,thefirstpresidentoftheRailwayBoard.Asisclearfromthefactthathewasaproponentofabroad-gaugeplan,Gotomadeeffortstoradicallyimprovethefunctionsoftrunklines,HealsohadinmindthepopularizationoflightrailwaystobeconstructedbyprivateinvestmentsandtheirroleasbranchlinesfortheGovernmentRailways.Forthispurpose,hefollowedapolicyofextendingsubsidiestosupportlightrailwayswithpoorprofitability.However,therailwaypolicymostimportanttoGotowasimprovingthefunctionsofrailwaytrunklinessoheavoidedinvestingnationalfinancialassetsall-roundinconstructionoflocalrailways.Itisthoughtthatheregardeditasimportanttocreateanenvironmenttofacilitateprivateinvestmentsinsmall-scalelocalrailways.Forthispurpose,hefollowedapolicyoflimitingoutlayfromthegovernmentaccounttosubsidiesonly.

TheLightRailwayAct（enforcedon3August1910）andtheLightRailwaySubsidiaryAct（enforced1January1912）wereformulatedunderthisrailwaypolicy.

Asintendedbythegovernment,theLightRailwayActledtomanyautonomousrailwayconstructionplansbylocalcommunitiesacrossthecountry.InaperiodfromAugust1910whentheLightRailwayActwasenforcedtoMarch1911whenfiscal1910ended,23newcompanieswerelicensedtooperatelightrailways.Inaddition,17railwaycompaniesopenedunderthePrivateRailwayAct,andnineotherprivaterailwaycompaniesunderplanningorconstructingchangedtheirlegalstatustolightrailwaybytheendofthefiscalyear.Furthermore,oneoperatingtramwaywasdesignatedasalightrailway.Table1givesthetrendsintotalkilometersoflightrailwaysupto1926.Thekilometersoflicensedrailwaylinesattheendofeachfiscalyear,increasedrapidlyfromfiscal1911-1913,3yearsaftertheenforcementoftheLightRailwayAct,declinedsharplyfrom1914to1917andclimbedagainfromaroundfiscal1918.Furthermore,thenumberofrailwaycompaniesstartingservice,grewfromfiscal1913to1915,stabilizedandthengrewagainafterfiscal1921.Lightrailwaysboomedinthe3yearsaftertheLightRailwayAct.

Manyofthenewlightrailwaysusedthe762mm（2'6"）gaugeinadditiontothe1067mm（3'6"）gaugeoftheGovernmentRailways.ThiswasbecausethiswasthenarrowestgaugetowhichtheLightRailwaySubsidiaryActapplied.Theserailwaysweremainlyforpassengertransportation,andtheoperatorsdidnotneedtoattachimportancetodirectconnectionoffreightcarstotheGovernmentRailways.

Photo:

 KubikiRailway（Niigata）No.2EnginebuiltbyKoppelin1911.This9-ton762-mmgaugelocomotivewaswidelyusedbyJapaneselightrailways 

（author）

ActualConditionsofLightRailways

Theaverageconstructioncostoflightrailwaysperkmwasabout¥21,000（1913values）forthe762-mmgaugeandabout¥34,000forthe1067-mm（3'6"）gauge.So,itwaspossibletoconstructashortlineofabout20kmatacostoflessthan¥500,000.

Nevertheless,mostlight-railwaycompaniessufferedfromshortagesofconstructionfunds.Consequently,theyavoidedconstructionoftunnelsandbridges,andconnectionswithGovernmentRailwayswereattheneareststation.Moreover,thereweremanyrailwaylinesnotdirectlyconnectingtomainlocalcitieswithshoppingandbusinesscenters.Suchconnectionsbylightrailwaysprovedtobeafataldrawbackwhenbusnetworksconnecteddirectlytocentrallocalcitiesdevelopedinlateryears.

Therewerestationswithnorailwaymen,whilesignalandothersecurityfacilitieswereminimized.Theyusedlightrailsof20-25pounds/yard（10-12.5kg/m）,weighinglessthanhalftheweightofrailsusedbytheGovernmentRailwaysinthosedays.

Manylightrailwayswereinvestedinbyinhabitantsinlocalcommunitiesalongthelines.Manystockholdersheldjust1or2shares,becausecommunitiesweremoreorlessforcedtobuysharesallottedaccordingtotheirownassets.Thus,formostshareholders,theirmoneywasnotinvestedinthepropersenseoftheword"investment",butwasacontributionssharedbyvillagers.Inagrarianareas,landlordsownedrelativelylargenumbersofsharesandledplanning,constructionandmanagementoflightrailways.

Despitegovernmentsubsidies,lightrailwayswereinfinancialdifficulty.Constructioncoststendedtobeunderestimatedforlightrailwayswhichdependedlargelyoncapitalfrompooragrariancommunities.Asaresult,manylightrailwayshadtoborrowlargesumsofmoneyinthecourseofconstructionandfoundithardtopayinterestontheloans.Inmanycases,lightrailwayswerebarelyabletomakebothendsmeetandonlyearnedsmallprofits.Buttheyweresaddledwithlargeinterestpaymentsfarexceedingearnings,sogovernmentsubsidieswerespentonpayinginterest.Nodividendswerepaidtoshareholders,orwerepaidonlytothoseholdingpreferredstock.Thus,thecapitalinvestedbylocalcommunitiesinlightrailwaysborealmostnoprofitstoordinaryinvestors,andtheassetvaluewasverylow.Inthosedays,itwasaheavyburdenonlocalcommunitiestoconstructalightrailway.

Againstthisbackground,constructionplansforlightrailwaysdeclinedsteeplyafter1914.However,after1911,theGovernmentRailwaysbegantoconstructlocallinesspecifiedaslightrailwaystandard,thatwerenotregulatedbytheRailwayConstructionAct.IflocalinhabitantscouldsucceedinpersuadingthegovernmentviamembersoftheImperialDietfromtheirlocalitiesandotherinfluentialpersons,toconstructarailway,theywereabletobenefitfromtheconvenienceofarailwaywithoutthedifficultiesoffund-raisingandrailwaymanagement.Constructionoflocalrailwaylinesgraduallybegantodependonthegovernment,anaturalanddesirabledevelopmentforlocalcommunities.

SignificanceandDevelopmentofRevisedRailwayConstructionAct

AnewRailwayConstructionActwasformulatedinApril1922.TheoldRailwayConstructionActformulatedin1892wasaimedatconstructinganetworkofrailwaytrunklines,butthenewRailwayConstructionActwasintendedtoexpandnetworksoflocalbranchlines.TodistinguishitfromtheoldConstructionLayingAct,itiscommonlycalledtheRevisedRailwayConstructionAct.Thisactstipulatedplansforconstructionofrailwaylineswithatotallengthof10,158kmasshowninFig.1.

TheRevisedRailwayConstructionActspelledoutthepolicyoflarge-scaleconstructionoflocalrailwaysbytheGovernmentRailways,unliketheLightRailwayActwhichembodiedthebasicgovernmentpolicythatlocalrailwaynetworksshouldbeconstructedwithprivatecapital.Atthesametime,thisnewpolicyinheritedandfurtherdevelopedtheGovernmentRailways'policyonlightrailwayswhichhadbeenconstructedeveryyearsince1911outsidetheframeworkoftheoldRailwayConstructionAct.

TheRevisedRailwayConstructionActdidnotspecifytheorderofpriorityofnewlinesorthestartorcompletiondatesofconstruction.Asaresult,decisionsonconstructionofnewlineswereinfluencedbythebalanceofforcesofpoliticalpartiesandfactionalgroupingsintheImperialDiet,Inthosedays,newspapersdescribedthisstateofaffairsas“EveryVoterwantstodrawrailwaystohisownfields,”parodyingtheproverb,“Everyfarmerwantstodrawwatertohisownfields.”

Thefactthatimportancewasattachedtoconstructionofnewlocalrailwaylineswithinalimitedbudgetmeantthatfundsforimprovingexistingtrunklineswereeroded,andthispolicywascalledthe“policyofsubordinatingimprovementoftrunklinestonewlinelocalconstruction.”Seiyukai,oneofthetwomajorpoliticalpartiesintheImperialDiet,hadadvocatedthispolicyforalongtime.SeiyukaiarguedthatitwasthedutyoftheGovernmentRailwaystoconstructnewlines,evenifnon-profitable,forthesakeofthedevelopmentoflocaleconomies.Ontheotherhand,Kenseikai,laterMinseito,apartyopposedtoSeiyukaistressedthepolicyofimprovingexistinglinescalledthe“policyofsubordinatingnewlocallineconstructiontoimprovementoftrunklines.”Thus,Japan'srailwaypolicyswayedbetweenthesetwopolicieswitheachchangeofgovernment.However,manyMinseitoDietmemberswereelectedfromlocalagrariancommunitiesandcouldnotaffordtobeindifferenttotheconstructionoflocalbranchlines,