Loved reading this story about a train and one girl. The rest of the world does not operate quite this way.
The story of a defunct train station in Hokkaido, Japan, that stayed open so that its sole patron—a teenage girl—could commute to school has come to a bittersweet end: Eighteen-year-old Kana Harada graduated from high school last Friday, March 25, and the Kyu-shirataki station—where she boarded a train every morning to travel to school, about 35 minutes away—has finally closed.
The Kyu-shirataki station story exemplifies a highly personalized, socially driven approach to rail service, prioritizing a single passenger’s needs over cost considerations. In contrast, Amtrak’s operating model, constrained by shared infrastructure and freight prioritization, focuses on serving larger populations but often at the expense of reliability and accessibility for smaller communities.
Japan’s investment in both rural stations and high-speed rail reflects a holistic commitment to public welfare and economic development, while Amtrak’s challenges highlight systemic issues in U.S. rail infrastructure, where freight interests and underfunding limit customer-centric service. On Amtrak you consider yourself lucky if you reach your destination and don't need to get detrained along the way (which has happened to me). Bonus points for arriving only about three hours late on a one hour trip (this is routine in my experience).
The contrast underscores fundamentally different priorities: Japan’s focus on accessibility and social good versus Amtrak’s struggle to balance efficiency with customer needs in a freight-dominated system
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