Railways are an important part of the infrastructure that was heavily damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Although major railway lines of East Japan Railway Co. (JR East), such as the Tohoku Shinkansen Line and the Tohoku Line, have resumed operations, local railway lines have not fully recovered.
The central government needs to make efforts to quickly restore services on these lines because they are important means of traffic for local residents. Otherwise, people may increase their reliance on cars, thus weakening the financial basis for continued train operations.
Among the railway lines in the Tohoku region operated by JR East, train runs have not been resumed on 344 km of sections on seven lines including the Hachinohe and Yamada lines. JR East estimates that if the damaged facilities are rebuilt in their previous locations, it would cost some ¥100 billion.