(ちほう)

region; area

(でんしゃ)

electric train

(ほんすう)

number of runs / services (counted with 本)

(へる)

to decrease / to diminish

(のる)

to ride, board

(ひと)

person / people

(すくない)

few, scarce

(へらす)

to reduce; to decrease

(ろせん)

route / line

(ふえる)

to increase; to grow

(かいしゃ)

company

(らいねん)

next year

(はる)

spring

(あさ)

morning

(よる)

night

(いま)

now

(はっぴょう)

announcement

(がっこう)

school

(かよう)

to commute / attend regularly

(こうこうせい)

high school student

(びょういん)

hospital

(いく)

to go

(こうれいしゃ)

elderly person

(こまる)

to be troubled; to be in difficulty

(し)

city

(まち)

town

(ばす)

bus

(ふやす)

to increase (something)

(のりあい)

shared ride, ride-sharing

(たくしー)

taxi

(はしらせる)

to run (a vehicle), to operate

(せいかつ)

daily life; livelihood

(まもる)

to protect

(てつどうがいしゃ)

railway company

(つづける)

to continue

(むずかしい)

difficult

(はなす)

to speak, talk

(くに)

country; the government

(ちいき)

region; area

(いっしょ)

Together; at the same time

(はなしあう)

to discuss

(ば)

place; spot

(つくる)

to make

to become (い-adjective)

Expresses a change of state for い-adjectives. Drop the final い and add くなる. Indicates something has changed or will change to a new state.

is doing, has been doing (ongoing state/action)

Expresses a continuing action or resulting state. Formed with て-form + いる. Can describe an action in progress or a state resulting from a past change.

from (starting point)

Indicates the origin or source. 建物の中から means 'from inside the building'.

and (joining nouns)

と links two nouns into a complete pair. The article uses it to join the two areas the typhoon is passing: 沖縄と奄美, 沖縄県と鹿児島県, 沖縄県と奄美地方.

than / more than

Indicates comparison. Used to say prices rose on average 2.8% compared to last year.

To make ~ (adjective)

い-adjective stem + くする means 'to make something (adjective).' 安くする means 'to make cheaper.'

if / when (natural consequence)

Conditional と indicating a natural or expected result. 一緒に捨てると…火が出て means 'if you throw them away together, fire starts.'

and (non-exhaustive list)

や lists representative examples — Shikoku and Kyushu among other regions (四国や九州).

might, maybe, possibly

Expresses possibility or uncertainty. Attached directly to the plain form of verbs, adjectives, or nouns. Less certain than でしょう.

doing things like ~ and ~

Lists representative actions among several. Implies there are other actions too. Used twice in this article.

to try to ~ / to be about to ~

The volitional form plus とする shows an attempt. 消そうとしています means they are trying to put the fires out, without saying they succeed.

The one that ~; what ~ is

Nominalizer の followed by the topic marker は, used to turn a clause into a noun phrase that serves as the topic of the sentence.

quotative particle

Marks the content of what someone said or reported. Used with 言う here.

to make sure that, to ensure that

Expresses the goal of bringing about a certain state or preventing something. Formed with verb plain form + ようにする. Often used to describe efforts to ensure or prevent something.

地方の電車の本数が減る

Train services in rural areas are being cut

地方では、電車に乗る人が少なくなっています。

In rural areas, fewer and fewer people are riding the trains.

そのため、電車の本数を減らす路線が増えています。

For that reason, more and more lines are cutting the number of trains they run.

ある会社は、来年の春から、朝と夜の電車を今より少なくすると発表しました。

One company announced that from next spring it will run fewer morning and evening trains than it does now.

電車が減ると、学校に通う高校生や、病院に行く高齢者が困るかもしれません。

If the trains are cut, high school students commuting to school and elderly people going to the hospital may be left in trouble.

市や町は、バスを増やしたり、乗り合いのタクシーを走らせたりして、生活を守ろうとしています。

Cities and towns are trying to protect daily life by doing things like adding more buses and running shared taxis.

鉄道会社は「人が少ない路線を続けるのは難しい」と話しています。

The railway company says, "It is difficult to keep running lines with few passengers."

国は、地域の人と会社が一緒に話し合う場を作るようにしています。

The national government is working to create places where local residents and companies can talk things over together.