The Kami-Shirataki train station in Japan was supposed to close three years ago, but the Hokkaido Railway Company kept it open for an unnamed high school student, since "serving is their business not only earning."
The train station was supposed to close down due to its remote location, according to BT. However, when the company found out that there is still one passenger who uses the stop to go to school and back, it continued its train operations in that area. The train will soon close down for good as the student is about to graduate March 26, 2016.
Hokkaido Railway Company has received a lot of praise for doing this noble deed. One particular commendation comes from a Facebook comment by Gabriel B. Peren, who said, "To JR [Japan Railways] it is just a few seconds of stop over and giving shelter but it means a lot to this girl. Serving is their business not only earning."
"Why should I not want to die for a country like this, when the government is ready to go an extra mile just for me", a person commented on the viral CCTV Facebook post about the train station as reported by Telegraph UK. "This is the meaning of good governance penetrating right to the grassroot level."
The poster added "Every citizen matters. No child left behind!"
However, according to Rocket News 24, there are certain inaccuracies to the story. The train is in Shirataki Station, and not the Kami-Shirataki Station as widely reported. The original copy of the story from the Sahi Shimbun on January 7, 2015 is posted in the bulletin board found in the rural station in Hokkaido. It says that the high school girl Kana Harada rides the Shirataki Station.
The Japan Rail Hokkaido announced earlier that it plans to close down lesser-used stations, which includes the Kami-Shirataki Station, which is perhaps why it was mistaken as the train station that the student boards.
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