Fifteen private railway firms plan to invest 256.5 billion yen on new and updated railway infrastructure in fiscal 2000, down 25 billion yen from the previous year, an industry association said Wednesday.
The Association of Japanese Private Railways attributed the decrease to a slowdown in the construction of new facilities.
The passage of legislation obliging transport firms to offer barrier-free access will lead to an increase in spending on station facilities from 24.2 billion yen to 28.2 billion yen of the total, the association said.
The 15 railway firms are Tobu, Seibu, Keisei, Keio, Odakyu, Tokyu, Keikyu, Sotestu, Meitetsu, Kintetsu, Nankai, Keihan, Hankyu, Hanshin and Nishitetsu.
The companies' fiscal 1999 operating profits totaled 233.9 billion yen, down 1 percent from the previous year.
The number of passengers the 15 firms carried in fiscal 1999 fell 1.6 percent to 7.218 billion.
The association attributed the decline in passenger numbers to the current economic slump, the five-day work system, the increased use of cars and the aging of society.