JR Kyushu to go public in fiscal 2016

[cteno4]

JR Kyushu to go public in fiscal 2016

 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/29/business/corporate-business/jr-kyushu-to-go-public-in-fiscal-2016/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=jr-kyushu-to-go-public-in-fiscal-2016

[trainsforever8]

Wow, I never thought that this would happen, what does this mean from now on?

[bikkuri bahn]

what does this mean from now on?

 

it needs to make a profit for its shareholders

[katoftw]

I didn't realize this private company was owned and run by the government.

[ozman2009]

it needs to make a profit for its shareholders

Higher fares and reduced services, as per the 1990s British Rail experience.

[miyakoji]

Will JRTT sell all shares? I seem to remember some mention in Kasai's book that they acknowledged differences between the Honshu companies and the island companies. None of the other islands companies have been privatized before.

Edited December 1, 2014 by miyakoji

[Sacto1985]

I think JR Kyushu--unlike JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku--has enough passenger traffic and station development to "go public" with a stock sale. Which does remind me: how profitable is the Kyushu Shinkansen line between Hakata and Kagoshima-Chūō Station?

[katoftw]

I think JR Kyushu--unlike JR Hokkaido and JR Shikoku--has enough passenger traffic and station development to "go public" with a stock sale. Which does remind me: how profitable is the Kyushu Shinkansen line between Hakata and Kagoshima-Chūō Station?

UNprofitable would be more correct.

[trainsforever8]

This actually worries me, because I don't know if this is just an ignorant stereotype I made up for myself, but I feel like private railway companies perform better than public companies, no?

[Davo Dentetsu]

I suppose any company can work really well as long as management manage properly and the budgets are sorted with constant evolution in mind.

[Nick_Burman]

This actually worries me, because I don't know if this is just an ignorant stereotype I made up for myself, but I feel like private railway companies perform better than public companies, no?

 

Not necessarily...it is an stereotype. As far as provision of public services (like rail transportation) goes, you can have good public operators and awful private ones. Azumanga is right, it all boils down to good management, budgets in check and...plenty of goodwill, political or otherwise. And some "private" operators are in fact publicly held, owned by a consortium of communal, regional and/or national governments. A good example of this is the Rhaetian Railway in Switzerland, private when compared to SBB-CFF but public in stock ownership (which is held by the lineside councils, the canton, the Confederation and private investors).

 

 

Cheers NB

[trainsforever8]

I see! Because I like JR Kyushu honestly, I find it unique compared to other JR railways, I don't know if you get what I mean haha, I just don't want its uniqueness to get affected by it becoming public. I think what I mean by "unique" is the fact that most of the rolling stock's designs are based on elegance and other factors also. But thanks for reassuring me!

[miyakoji]

Yeah, they could buy less interesting, but cheaper, rolling stock, and they could try to end service on loss-making lines (I'll guess that they have several :)). From a railfan perspective, those would be changes for the worse.

[katoftw]

I think the whole of Japan has unprofitible lines accross it.  Many in the Honshu's JRW/JRC/JRE regional lines would be loosing money also.  JRK would have good management already, considering they have turned some unprofitible lines into profitible lines in the past decade.  And they must be making a mint from the JR Hakata City shopping complex.  Which is only one of the many non train business sectors they have.

[trainsforever8]

Yeah, they could buy less interesting, but cheaper, rolling stock, and they could try to end service on loss-making lines (I'll guess that they have several :)). From a railfan perspective, those would be changes for the worse.

This is precisely what worries me!