Major newspapers reported yesterday that the formal decision was made to discontinue the Kure-Matsuyama ferry line. The line will be unavailable from July 1st 2009. The reduction in ETC’s fare since this spring seemed to accelerate the deteriorating financial condition, which had already been caused by the opening of Shimanami expressway in 1999 and price hike of oil in 2008. This ferry line was started in 1964. If other remaining ferry lines continue to vanish one after another in the days ahead, it may surely lead to undermining the valuable image of this area formed over long period of time. If the ferry services were lost completely, this area would lose one of the unique appealing images.
Carriage of bicycles on this ferry is allowed by paying an additional charge. An additional charge of 600 yen per a bicycle is required.
