On March 29, the association held the first meeting to discuss how to operate conventional lines, which run parallel with Hokuriku Shinkansen and will be separated from JR West after extension of Hokuriku Shinkansen(High Speed Rail) to Tsuruga in 2025.
They submitted a draft to found the third sector in 2023.
The section which will be separated from JR West is 79.2km between Awara and Tsuruga. Last March, Prefectural goverment and 7 local governments consented with the management separation and management mainly by the third sector.
Governor Nishikawa and the other local governors attended the meeting. He stated "The conventional line is an essential infrastructure for inhabitants of our prefecture, and then we have to maintain it. We regard it as the most important to ensure convenience of our prefectural inhabitants."
The association is going to discuss how to compose the third sector, how to design timetable, and financial plan to formulate management plan. how to run the third sector will be embodied based on the plan. For the time being, the association is going to research on maintenance of tracks and diagrams.
Citation: http://mainichi.jp/area/fukui/news/20130330ddlk18020627000c.html
The fatal demerit of Hokuriku Shinkansen is that most of the intermediate stations are far from downtowns. So, if the third sector run rapid trains as frequently and as rapid as current Limited Express, the company can be compatible with high speed rail.
