THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
April 10, 2020 at 19:21 JST
Commuters ride a train on April 7 in Tokyo. (AP Photo)
Railway operators in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area say they had about 60 percent fewer passengers at each station on April 8 than the same time a year ago.
Those numbers are from the day after the government declared a state of emergency for Tokyo over the coronavirus outbreak.
Tokyo Metro Co., which operates subway lines mainly around central Tokyo, said the ridership decline shows many people are heeding the government’s request to refrain from nonessential outings, even on weekdays.
According to Tokyo Metro, the year-on-year drop in ridership during morning commuting hours intensified as the morning progressed. The decline in ridership was 43 percent between 7:30 and 8 a.m.; 49 percent between 8 and 8:30 a.m.; and 61 percent between 8:30 and 9 a.m.
Tokyu Corp., which operates railway lines connecting Tokyo and Kanagawa Prefecture, had about 40 percent fewer passengers on all of its railways on April 1 than a year earlier. But the figure rose to about 60 percent fewer passengers a week later on April 8.
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