Transportation, tourism sectors hit hard by new virus outbreak

A new coronavirus outbreak has weighed on the transportation and tourism sectors in Japan, including Shinkansen bullet trains, with fears about infection making people reluctant to venture outdoors or share confined spaces with others for long hours.The number of passengers between Feb. 1 and 19 of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line connecting Tokyo and Osaka fell 8 percent from a year earlier, its operator Central Japan Railway Co. said, adding that of those who used other express trains plunged 15 percent.The pace of decline was the almost same level as was in May 2011, when the nation's economy…READ FULL ARTICLE