The Kitakyushu Monorail has an interesting economics story. It was originally built to stop at a distance of only 300 meters before reaching Kokura Station, which is the largest train station in Kitakyushu. This was done to appease the owners of the shops in front of Kokura Station, who were very afraid… that the monorail will reduce the number of their customers.

As a result, the monorail was unprofitable for 13 years, until the connection to the Kokura Station was finally made. Then, the service became profitable and… then they realized that there was no impact on the number of customers.

Kitakyushu Monorail, Kitakyushu

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Shimabara castle tower