Oita Court Rejects Disabled People’s Claim over Unmanned Stations

Oita, April 23 (Jiji Press)–A district court in southwestern Japan on Thursday dismissed a damages claim by people with disabilities who said that the unmanned operations of stations by Kyushu Railway Co., or JR Kyushu, violated their freedom of movement. “It cannot be acknowledged that there was unfair and discriminatory treatment” on the grounds of disability in operating stations without staff, Oita District Court Presiding Judge Mina Tomita said, rejecting the claim for damages totaling 660,000 yen against JR Kyushu. The plaintiffs are six people with disabilities from the southwestern prefecture of Oita. It was the first lawsuit in Japan to take up the issue of whether unmanned station operations constitute discrimination against people with disabilities. At the trial, the major focus was on whether such operations infringe the principle of equality stipulated in Article 14 of the Constitution. Unmanned station operations require passengers with disabilities to contact railway staff in advance and “cause a difference in the use of stations between passengers with and without disabilities,” Tomita said. Given the current situation, including a population decline, “it cannot be said that a management decision to operate stations without staff was unreasonable, and therefore it was unavoidable,” the presiding judge added. It has to be concluded that maintaining staff allocations would impose an excessive burden on JR Kyushu, Tomita also said. According to the transport ministry, unmanned stations accounted for 50.9 pct of the 9,390 stations across Japan as of the end of fiscal 2022. The ministry drew up safety guidelines for unmanned stations in the same year after exchanging opinions with railway companies and organizations of people with disabilities. The guidelines call on railway firms to take tangible and intangible measures based on the needs of such people. “We will continue to work to maintain the transport network,” a JR Kyushu official said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]