ID :
206105
Thu, 09/08/2011 - 18:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/206105
The shortlink copeid
6 Months On: Railway Reconstruction Stalled in Disaster Areas
Sendai, Miyagi Pref., Sept. 7 (Jiji Press)--Work to restore coastal train lines in northeastern Japan that were damaged by the March 11 tsunami has been stalled partly because local authorities' efforts to rebuild the affected communities and their talks with the state on funding for community relocation have been slow.
With the future of their communities still uncertain, many irritated residents have started to leave their hometowns.
Six months after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent giant tsunami ravaged the Tohoku northeastern region, train services remain suspended on a total of some 400 kilometers of nine lines in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures.
Soon after the disaster, the city of Higashimatsushima in Miyagi, served by the Senseki Line of East Japan Railway Co. <9020>, studied plans to relocate its community to safer upland areas and move the damaged sections of the line to inland areas. Based on the plans, the city has continued negotiations on land acquisition.
But residents along the original Senseki Line who have repaired their houses and started restoring their lives oppose the plans. Yuichi Obata, 47, said, "Safety can be ensured by elevating the rails and reinforcing the coastal barriers."
After the March disaster, a total of some 2,200 Higashimatsushima citizens had moved out of the city by the end of August, and the city government is concerned about the situation.
Also, about 1,300 residents in the town of Yamamoto in Miyagi, served by JR East's Joban Line, have moved to the prefectural capital of Sendai or other places.
Alarmed by the exodus, the town worked out a plan to move the damaged sections of the line to inland areas. "We want to bring people back by making Yamamoto a safer place," Toshio Saito, the town's mayor, said.
In Iwate and northern areas of Miyagi, local authorities have been in talks with the central government and residents over moving their communities to higher ground. The discussions, however, have yet to cover how to restore the damaged train lines.
The central government, which usually provides subsidies to help cover 75 pct of costs needed for such community relocation, has offered to raise the proportion for the disaster-hit areas. But the local governments have demanded that the costs be fully covered by the state.
JR East claims that it cannot operate a railway in a place where there is no community, thus insisting that blueprints for community rebuilding must be mapped out before train services are resumed.
The company is also asking the central government to share the massive costs of rebuilding the damaged rail tracks.
Officials of coastal areas in Iwate are concerned that damaged rail tracks there may be left unattended for a long period. In such areas, train services are expected to be unprofitable after any resumption.
Meanwhile, Sanriku Railway Co., a public-private firm that operates train lines in Iwate coastal areas, is aiming to fully restore its services by April 2014 after taking such measures as elevating tracks, on the assumption the company will get substantial financial support from the state. Many sections of its train lines have been suspended.
As many municipalities along suspended train lines are planning to work out community-rebuilding plans by the end of the year, new route ideas for the currently suspended lines are also expected to be available before long.
"We want to speed up discussions as the fortitude of local residents is stretched to the limit," said Katsumi Kishitani, railroad division director at the transport ministry's Tohoku district transport bureau, which hosts a reconstruction liaison council made up of officials of affected local governments and JR East.
With the future of their communities still uncertain, many irritated residents have started to leave their hometowns.
Six months after the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent giant tsunami ravaged the Tohoku northeastern region, train services remain suspended on a total of some 400 kilometers of nine lines in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima Prefectures.
Soon after the disaster, the city of Higashimatsushima in Miyagi, served by the Senseki Line of East Japan Railway Co. <9020>, studied plans to relocate its community to safer upland areas and move the damaged sections of the line to inland areas. Based on the plans, the city has continued negotiations on land acquisition.
But residents along the original Senseki Line who have repaired their houses and started restoring their lives oppose the plans. Yuichi Obata, 47, said, "Safety can be ensured by elevating the rails and reinforcing the coastal barriers."
After the March disaster, a total of some 2,200 Higashimatsushima citizens had moved out of the city by the end of August, and the city government is concerned about the situation.
Also, about 1,300 residents in the town of Yamamoto in Miyagi, served by JR East's Joban Line, have moved to the prefectural capital of Sendai or other places.
Alarmed by the exodus, the town worked out a plan to move the damaged sections of the line to inland areas. "We want to bring people back by making Yamamoto a safer place," Toshio Saito, the town's mayor, said.
In Iwate and northern areas of Miyagi, local authorities have been in talks with the central government and residents over moving their communities to higher ground. The discussions, however, have yet to cover how to restore the damaged train lines.
The central government, which usually provides subsidies to help cover 75 pct of costs needed for such community relocation, has offered to raise the proportion for the disaster-hit areas. But the local governments have demanded that the costs be fully covered by the state.
JR East claims that it cannot operate a railway in a place where there is no community, thus insisting that blueprints for community rebuilding must be mapped out before train services are resumed.
The company is also asking the central government to share the massive costs of rebuilding the damaged rail tracks.
Officials of coastal areas in Iwate are concerned that damaged rail tracks there may be left unattended for a long period. In such areas, train services are expected to be unprofitable after any resumption.
Meanwhile, Sanriku Railway Co., a public-private firm that operates train lines in Iwate coastal areas, is aiming to fully restore its services by April 2014 after taking such measures as elevating tracks, on the assumption the company will get substantial financial support from the state. Many sections of its train lines have been suspended.
As many municipalities along suspended train lines are planning to work out community-rebuilding plans by the end of the year, new route ideas for the currently suspended lines are also expected to be available before long.
"We want to speed up discussions as the fortitude of local residents is stretched to the limit," said Katsumi Kishitani, railroad division director at the transport ministry's Tohoku district transport bureau, which hosts a reconstruction liaison council made up of officials of affected local governments and JR East.
