{"id":173820,"date":"2025-10-23T17:44:25","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T08:44:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/?post_type=news&#038;p=173820&#038;lang=en"},"modified":"2025-10-23T17:44:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T08:44:25","slug":"kumamoto-launches-expert-panel-to-revive-city-tram-operations","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/news\/kumamoto-launches-expert-panel-to-revive-city-tram-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Kumamoto Launches Expert Panel to Revive City Tram Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The City of Kumamoto held the first meeting of an expert panel on October 22 to discuss measures for revitalizing the city\u2019s troubled tram system, which has faced frequent accidents and operational issues. The \u201cKumamoto City Tram Revitalization Project\u201d panel includes specialists in transport safety and railway engineering and will compile recommendations by spring 2026. At the inaugural meeting, chaired by University of Tokyo Professor Takafumi Koseki, members reviewed current organizational and staffing challenges. Future sessions will address workforce management, maintenance, safety oversight, and ridership goals. Additional meetings are scheduled for January and March 2026, after which the city aims to finalize plans to restore public trust and stabilize operations in the historic tram network. <\/span><b>Source<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.city.kumamoto.jp\/kiji00367012\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kumamoto City<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \/ <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tku.co.jp\/news\/?news_id=20251022-00000007\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">TKU<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-171348\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/fnn_kumamoto-train-onepiece_2025_WEB.jpeg?resize=1400%2C1050&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Kumamoto Mayor Takes Pay Cut Over Tram Issues\" width=\"1400\" height=\"1050\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/fnn_kumamoto-train-onepiece_2025_WEB.jpeg?w=1400&amp;ssl=1 1400w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/fnn_kumamoto-train-onepiece_2025_WEB.jpeg?resize=300%2C225&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/fnn_kumamoto-train-onepiece_2025_WEB.jpeg?resize=1024%2C768&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/fnn_kumamoto-train-onepiece_2025_WEB.jpeg?resize=768%2C576&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Stay informed with the latest Fukuoka &amp; Kyushu news and events in English. Sign up for our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">free weekly newsletter <\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">today and never miss a beat. Opt out anytime, your privacy is our priority. Get the inside scoop with <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/mailmagazine\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Now<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Summaries based on public content, errors may occur during translation. Images credited independently. Send feedback using <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/en\/contact\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">this <\/span><b>form<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The City of Kumamoto held the first meeting of an expert panel on October 22 to discuss measures for revitalizing the city\u2019s troubled tram system&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29305,"featured_media":171348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","tags":[],"class_list":["post-173820","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","location-kumamoto-city","news-category-general","en-US"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/173820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29305"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.fukuoka-now.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}