Construction of Local Railways

JAPANESE RAILWAY HISTORY 5

Eiichi Aoki

Development of Light Railway Policy As a result of the nationalization of railways in 1906-1807, 17 leading private railway companies were pur- chased by the government, and only 20 private steam railway companies continued operating. Generally, these companies operated short lines, and only four had a network of more than 50 km. In addition, there were other railways operating electric, horse-drawn and man-powered trains, running mainly on tramways. Construction of railways was be- lieved to contribute to regional development and activation of agrarian economies, and many local communities were enthusiastic about introduc- I Kubiki Railway (Niigata) No. 2 Engine built by Koppel in 1911. This 9-ton 762-mm gauge ing railways in their districts. Al- locomotive was widely used by Japanese light railways (author) ready in 1907, railway entrepreneurs like Keijiro Amenomiya were making policy was promoted under the leader- cal railways. It is thought that he re- positive investments in introducing ship of Shimpei Goto, the first presi- garded it as important to create an steam locomotives for horse drawn or dent of the Railway Board. As is clear environment to facilitate private in- human-powered tramway running on from the fact that he was a proponent vestments in small-scale local rail- roads, and eight steam tramways of of a broad-gauge plan, Goto made ef- ways. For this purpose, he followed a 762 mm (2’ 6") gauge under his con- forts to radically improve the func- policy of limiting outlay from the gov- trol, were merged into the Dainihon tions of trunk lines, He also had in ernment account to subsidies only. Tramway Co., Ltd. in 1908. mind the popularization of light rail- The Light Railway Act (enforced on However, the government consid- ways to be constructed by private in- 3 August 1910) and the Light Railway ered it undesireble that tramways vestments and their role as branch Subsidiary Act (enforced 1 January with limited train operation and lines for the Government Railways. 1912) were formulated under this safety appliances, spread across Ja- For this purpose, he followed a policy railway policy. pan as popular branch lines. Light of extending subsidies to support light As intended by the government, the railways, having an intermediate railways with poor profitability. Light Railway Act led to many au- technical standard between tram- However, the railway policy most im- tonomous railway construction plans ways and ordinary railways, were portant to Goto was improving the by local communities across the coun- thought to be more desirable, for this functions of railway trunk lines so he try. In a period from August 1910 purpose. avoided investing national financial when the Light Railway Act was en- In those days, Japan’s railway assets all-round in construction of lo- forced to March 1911 when fiscal 1910

Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved. 34 Japan Railway & Transport Review / July 1995 ment Railways in those days. Figure 1 Railways Lines Planned under Revised Railway Construction Act Many light railways were invested in by inhabitants in local communities along the lines. Many stockhold- ers held just 1 or 2 shares, because communities were more or less forced to buy shares allotted according to their own assets. Thus, for most shareholders, their money was not invested in the proper sense of the word "investment", but was a contributions shared by villagers. In agrarian areas, landlords owned relatively large

Government railways in operation at 31 December 1922

Uncompleted lines under old Railway Construction Act and other uncompleted lines Privately-operated railways at 31 December 1922 (only those necessary for purpose of this article) Planned railway lines shown at the first promulgation of Revised Railway Construction Act Planned railway lines added by 1937 under Revised Railway 050 100 150 200 250 Construction Act km Seats of prefectural governments ended, 23 new companies were li- tach importance to direct connection censed to operate light railways. In of freight cars to the Government addition, 17 railway companies Railways. opened under the Private Railway Act, and nine other private railway Actual Conditions of Light I Toshio Kinoshita (1874-1923) companies under planning or con- (Transportation Museum, Tokyo) structing changed their legal status to Railways Born into a sake-brewing family in Kono-mura light railway by the end of the fiscal The average construction cost of Kyoto Prefecture, he graduated from the Civil En- year. Furthermore, one operating light railways per km was about gineering Department of Tokyo Imperial Univer- tramway was designated as a light sity, and read law and economics in the post- ¥21,000 (1913 values) for the 762-mm graduate course. Employed by the National Rail- railway. Table 1 gives the trends in gauge and about ¥34,000 for the 1067- way Operation Bureau in 1899, he visited Europe total kilometers of light railways up mm (3' 6") gauge. So, it was possible and the United States for study the next year. He stayed in the United States, Germany and Britain to 1926. The kilometers of licensed to construct a short line of about 20 for study from September 1904 to October 1907. railway lines at the end of each fiscal km at a cost of less than ¥500,000. In the United States, he studied the theories of year, increased rapidly from fiscal Nevertheless, most light-railway transportation, railway operation and management under Professor Emory R. Johnson at the 1911-1913, 3 years after the enforce- companies suffered from shortages of University of Pennsylvania. After his return ment of the Light Railway Act, de- construction funds. Consequently, home, he held responsible posts in the transpor- clined sharply from 1914 to 1917 and they avoided construction of tunnels tation business of the Government Railways, serving as Chief (1908-1914) of the Management climbed again from around fiscal and bridges, and connections with Section, Transportation Department, Railway 1918. Furthermore, the number of Government Railways were at the Board and as Chief of the Transportation Dept. of railway companies starting service, nearest station. Moreover, there were the board. He introduced a major change in the management policy of the Government Railways grew from fiscal 1913 to 1915, stabi- many railway lines not directly con- and realized services for the benefit of users. He lized and then grew again after fiscal necting to main local cities with shop- was instrumental in introducing express trains 1921. Light railways boomed in the 3 and a discount system for group tourists, inviting ping and business centers. Such con- foreign tourists to Japan and publication of tourist years after the Light Railway Act. nections by light railways proved to guides in English, opening the Tokyo Station Ho- Many of the new light railways used be a fatal drawback when bus net- tel and establishing the Tourist Bureau (prede- the 762 mm (2' 6") gauge in addition cessor of Japan Travel Bureau) which all embod- works connected directly to central lo- ied his ideas. to the 1067 mm (3' 6") gauge of the cal cities developed in later years. The Social and Economic Effects of Railways in Government Railways. This was be- There were stations with no railway Japan (1923), compiled at Kinoshita’s initiative, is cause this was the narrowest gauge to highly evaluated as a record of concrete research men, while signal and other security on the social and economic effects of railways. which the Light Railway Subsidiary facilities were minimized. They used The Future of Government Railways (1923), a Act applied. These railways were light rails of 20-25 pounds/yard (10- collection of his articles published posthumously, mainly for passenger transportation, contains articles about railways in competition 12.5 kg/m), weighing less than half with automobiles and shows his farsightedness. and the operators did not need to at- the weight of rails used by the Govern-

Table 1 Licenses, Terminations of Licenses, and Opening of Significance and Services of Light Railways and Local Railways Development of Revised (Unit: km) Railway Construction Act FY Licenses Changes in Terminations Nationalization Opening of A new Railway Construction Act was designations* of licenses service ** formulated in April 1922. The old Rail- 1910 633.0 769.2 –– –– (374.0) way Construction Act formulated in 1911 1,762.0 289.1 24.4 –– 143.2 1892 was aimed at constructing a net- (7.3) work of railway trunk lines, but the 1912 1,629.6 182.4 86.6 –– 255.3 new Railway Construction Act was in- 1913 1,468.0 36.4 385.5 –– 521.4 tended to expand networks of local 1914 456.0 10.1 439.0 –– 487.6 branch lines. To distinguish it from the 1915 136.0 –– 910.9 –– 469.6 old Construction Laying Act, it is com- 1916 326.6 40.7 478.9 –– 143.9 monly called the Revised Railway Con- (37.1) struction Act. This act stipulated plans 1917 283.3 407.6 415.9 –– 91.1 for construction of railway lines with a (321.9) total length of 10,158 km as shown in 1918 495.2 –– 509.9 –– 230.2 Fig. 1. 1919 1,009.5 –– 194.1 –– 129.4 The Revised Railway Construction 1920 785.2 –– 85.6 130.4 108.4 Act spelled out the policy of large-scale construction of local railways by the 1921 594.3 –– 59.6 –– 250.6 Government Railways, unlike the Light 1922 1,350.1 –– 105.9 35.0 372.8 Railway Act which embodied the basic 1923 954.6 –– 112.3 –– 487.4 government policy that local railway 1924 597.5 –– 730.6 332.8 networks should be constructed with 1925 421.2 –– 260.3 23.8 330.9 private capital. At the same time, this 1926 933.4 –– 230.3 11.9 480.2 new policy inherited and further developed the Government Railways’ policy Mile-chain representations are converted to kilometers (mile = 1609 m, chain = 20 m). on light railways which had been con- (Sources: The Railway Statistical Yearbook (1910-1926)) structed every year since 1911 outside * Private railways redesignated their legal status as light railways ** Bracketed figures denote those private railways in operation which were redesignated the framework of the old Railway Con- as light railways. struction Act. In April 1919, Private Railways Act (all railways based on this act disappeared by 1918) The Revised Railway Construction and Light Railways Act were merged into Local Railways Act. Act did not specify the order of priority of new lines or the start or completion numbers of shares and led planning, dinary investors, and the asset value dates of construction. As a result, deci- construction and management of light was very low. In those days, it was a sions on construction of new lines were railways. heavy burden on local communities to influenced by the balance of forces of po- Despite government subsidies, light construct a light railway. litical parties and factional groupings railways were in financial difficulty. Against this background, construc- in the Imperial Diet, In those days, Construction costs tended to be un- tion plans for light railways declined newspapers described this state of af- derestimated for light railways which steeply after 1914. However, after fairs as “Every Voter wants to draw depended largely on capital from poor 1911, the Government Railways be- railways to his own fields,” parodying agrarian communities. As a result, gan to construct local lines specified the proverb, “Every farmer wants to many light railways had to borrow as light railway standard, that were draw water to his own fields.” large sums of money in the course of not regulated by the Railway Con- The fact that importance was at- construction and found it hard to pay struction Act. If local inhabitants tached to construction of new local rail- interest on the loans. In many cases, could succeed in persuading the gov- light railways were barely able to ernment via members of the Imperial make both ends meet and only earned Diet from their localities and other in- small profits. But they were saddled fluential persons, to construct a rail- with large interest payments far ex- way, they were able to benefit from ceeding earnings, so government sub- the convenience of a railway without sidies were spent on paying interest. the difficulties of fund-raising and No dividends were paid to sharehold- railway management. Construction ers, or were paid only to those holding of local railway lines gradually began preferred stock. Thus, the capital in- to depend on the government, a natu- vested by local communities in light ral and desirable development for lo- I Railcar of Kujukuri Railway powered by Ford railways bore almost no profits to or- cal communities. Gasoline Engine (author)

Copyright © 1995 EJRCF. All rights reserved. 36 Japan Railway & Transport Review / July 1995 tions of railway management. On this addition to Amenomiya and Nippon basis, he insisted that railways and au- Sharyo, there were many small local tomobiles should provide services in ar- manufacturers. eas where they could give full play to Some light railways adopted internal their advantages and that construction combustion-engine locomotives. of short local branch lines in areas Chikugo Tramway in northern Kyushu where automobile transportation could first used an internal combustion en- be best utilized, should be stopped. gine locomotive for operation of com- I Government Railways Standard Gasoline However, proponents of such an ad- mercial trains in 1905 with a locomo- Railcar built in 1932-1934 (author) vanced theory were a minority, and tive powered by a single-cylinder hot- both politicians and the public upheld bulb engine (about 10 hp) designed for a way lines within a limited budget the principle that railways should be fishing boat. The hot-bulb engine was meant that funds for improving exist- the main means of local transportation. manufactured by Fukuoka Iron Works ing trunk lines were eroded, and this Operation of bus lines by the Govern- in Osaka, and large numbers of engines policy was called the “policy of subordi- ment Railways, originally proposed by of this kind were supplied to railways in nating improvement of trunk lines to Kinoshita, became reality in 1930, and northern Kyushu. However, because of new line local construction.” Seiyukai, the network gradually expanded. their low output, they were not used one of the two major political parties in The Government Railways continued widely in other areas. the Imperial Diet, had advocated this its policy of supplying (at relatively low Yoshima Railway in Fukushima Pre- policy for a long time. Seiyukai argued prices) its old small steam locomotives fecture commercially operated gaso- that it was the duty of the Government and two-axle passenger carriages to line-engined rail-cars for the first time Railways to construct new lines, even if meet the demand for locomotives and in 1921. Later, more-and-more small non-profitable, for the sake of the devel- carriages of light railways, which rap- railways used gasoline-engined rail- opment of local economies. On the idly grew in the 1910s. But these loco- cars for passenger trains. At first, such other hand, Kenseikai, later Minseito, a motives and passenger cars only par- rail-cars were used for 610-mm (2' 0") party opposed to Seiyukai stressed the tially met the demand from 1067-mm and 762-mm (2' 6") gauge railways, but policy of improving existing lines called gauge light railway operators. In those after the mid-1920s, they were used for the “policy of subordinating new local days, the Government Railways had es- 1067-mm gauge railways. These gasoline construction to improvement of tablished a production system for large line engines were mostly imported from trunk lines.” Thus, Japan’s railway steam locomotives for its trunk lines, the United States. policy swayed between these two poli- but the production capacity was not suf- The Government Railways used its cies with each change of government. ficient to meet demand from light rail- first gasoline-engined rail-cars in 1929, However, many Minseito Diet members ways which, therefore, imported them. but it was a failure because of low out- were elected from local agrarian com- German and American small locomo- put and poor performance. However, munities and could not afford to be in- tives were imported in large numbers. highly-reliable gasoline engines of 100- different to the construction of local Large numbers were made by 150 hp were manufactured domesti- branch lines, Consequently, many local Orenstein & Koppel A.G. of Germany, cally in 1933 and afterwards, and rail- branch lines were constructed even and Baldwin Locomotive Works of the cars powered by them were mass-pro- while Minseito was in power. United States. When WWI broke out, duced for local lines and short trunk In Japan, the 1920s saw the begin- Japan could not easily import locomo- lines throughout the Government Rail- ning of automobile transportation. In tives, and Amenomiya Works (which way Network. those days, Japanese roads were in a developed from Dainihon Tramway, To- However, as imports of gasoline were poor condition, but bus networks still kyo) and Nippon Sharyo (Nagoya) be- gradually restricted in the late 1930s, expanded rapidly throughout the coun- came the main domestic suppliers. Im- the number of gasoline-engined rail- try. Early Japanese buses had poor ports from Britain were very limited in cars in operation declined sharply, put- performance with a carrying capacity of those days. ting a temporary end to internal com- less than 20 persons and an output of Demand for passenger and freight bustion engine locomotives and rail- about 20 hp. Nevertheless, short local cars for light railways was met com- cars in Japan. I private railway lines were defeated in pletely by domestic manufacturers. In competition with bus lines and went out of business one after another. Yoshio Kinoshita, a far-sighted bureaucrat of Eiichi Aoki the Ministry of Railways, in his posthu- mous work “The Future of Government After graduating from the Faculty of Science at Chiba University in 1957, Mr. Aoki received a doctorate in science from the Tokyo University of Education (now called Tsukuba University). Railways” (published in 1923) ex- After serving at Tsuru City University and Tokyo Gakugei University as an assistant professor, he plained the actual conditions of auto- became a professor at Tokyo Gakugei University in 1978. He specializes in transportation geog- mobile transportation and competition raphy and is also a leading Japanese scholar of the history of railways and marine transportation. between railway and automobile trans- Mr. Aoki is former president of the Japan Railway History Society. His publications include World portation and the deteriorating condi- History of Sea Power and Japanese Railway– Its Rise and Development.