The Minami Aso Railway is a third-sector company which runs the 17.7 kilometers of track connecting Takamori with the JR line at Tateno. Damage to two bridges and two tunnels on the line look to cost between 3 and 5 billion yen to repair.
Under the existing national railway track maintenance law, the national government and local entities would be responsible for 25% of repair costs each, leaving the company responsible for the remaining half, something the company, with its weak balance sheet, cannot afford. However, after the Tohoku disaster, a similar line in Iwate Prefecture received a raised compensation rate from the central government as well as allocation from a special tax, which left the local burden at almost zero.
Yesterday, the central government allocated 180 million yen for investigation on how to best proceed with earthquake reconstruction and recovery. An official from the Transport Industry was quoted as saying, “We understand that the line is very important both for tourism and the lives of local people and will consider to what extent we are able to provide aid.” - William
