Potentially positive news?
https://tabiris.com/archives/ishikawasen-arikata202307/>decisions regarding the Hokuriku Railway's existence to be made next month>bus conversion is being considered>but the bus driver shortage already caused 12% service reductions in Hokuriku this year>and between bus driver work hour standards changes set for 2024, and 80% of drivers in the region being in 40-60 age group, it will get worse>calculations show that the cost of providing equivalent service without trains will be higher>Hokuriku Railway wants to reduce cost by being able to have one maintenance facility instead of two separate ones for Asanogawa Line and Ishikawa Line>connecting both to the JR line that is to be given next spring to Ishikawa Railway is one way to do it>but it's 20kV AC and Hokutetsu's lines are 600V DC and 1,5kV DC respectively>another option is tram conversion and rebuilding the former connecting bit on the city streetsI think tram is the most likely option considering how well that went in Toyama(although they only needed to build an 800m connector and already had one part of the line run as trams).
