Japan's biggest railway company raises fares

Japan's biggest railway company raised its fares by an average 7.1 percent on Saturday. It is East Japan Railway's first across-the-board fare increase since it was privatized in 1987, apart from rises due to consumption tax hikes. One reason for the increase is the rising cost of labor. JR East says subcontractors have been raising wages to secure skilled workers. They're needed to perform vital work like replacing old rails between 1 and 4 a.m., when no trains are running. The railway company says it's not easy to find workers with the right skill set. Another reason is the rising cost of materials like rails and railroad ties. Repair expenses totaled more than 300 billion yen last fiscal year. That's up 26 percent in the past 10 years. Some customers told NHK the increase was inevitable due to the need to improve safety measures and services. JR East has recently suffered a series of major disruptions. Train services on the Yamanote and Keihin-Tohoku lines in greater Tokyo were suspended for up to 8 hours earlier this year due to power outages. And Utsunomiya Line services were suspended for around 17 hours at one point in February because of a severed overhead wire. JR East is also experiencing stagnant fare revenue. The company transported over 5.8 billion passengers last fiscal year. The figure plateaued after recovering from a slump during the coronavirus pandemic. JR East expects the fare hike will boost annual revenue by 88 billion yen. It plans to use the money to upgrade and repair its facilities and to hire more technical workers. East Japan Railway President and CEO Kise Yoichi explains that the fare increase was necessary to pass on to future generations a safe and high-quality railway service. He said the company wants the railway to be resilient against natural disasters and to give passengers a sense of reassurance. Kise hopes the public will understand why the railway is raising its fares. He says the company cannot respond to social changes and pa