The Japan Railway group said Friday 9.84 million passengers traveled on JR trains during the yearend holiday season, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier, the sixth straight yearly increase.
Tokaido Shinkansen Line trains carried 2.62 million passengers from Dec. 28 through Jan. 5, with the number of travelers leaving Tokyo on Dec. 30 and returning to Tokyo on Jan. 3 hitting all-time highs, the JR group said.
The Kyushu Shinkansen Line carried 93,000 passengers, up 2.9 percent from the previous year. But the number of Tohoku Shinkansen Line travelers remained flat at 1.58 million as service between Morioka and Akita was hampered by heavy snow.
JR East's Uetsu Line, running between Niigata and Akita prefectures, saw a 23 percent decline in passenger levels as service between Tsuruoka and Sakata stations was suspended after the Inaho No. 14 train derailed on Dec. 25 in Shonai, Yamagata Prefecture.
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