Passenger numbers among 16 Japanese rail companies not affiliated with the Japan Railways group exceeded 10 billion people in the last fiscal year for the first time in 22 years. Total ridership came to 10.095 billion in April 2015 – March 2016, a 2.8% increase from the last fiscal year.
Driving the recent boom are passengers who do not use regular commuter passes, such as foreign tourists. That category of riders rose to 4.17 billion, up 3.1% from a year earlier.
Ridership among those with regular commuter passes, such as people going to work or school, rose by 2.7% to 5.925 billion.
The data covers nine companies operating in the Tokyo area, five in the Kansai region centering on Osaka, as well as Nagoya Railroad and Nishi-Nippon Railroad.
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