住宅地じゅうたくちと病院びょういんを結むすぶ新路線しんろせん、来月らいげつ運行うんこう開始かいしへ

A city has announced that from next month it will start running a new bus route linking a suburban residential area with the general hospital in the city.

According to the city, the new route will run about twenty services a day on weekdays and about ten on Saturdays and Sundays, and the trip from the residential area to the hospital is expected to take roughly thirty minutes.

Until now, residents of the district had to change trains or buses on the way to the hospital, and complaints about the inconvenience had been coming in, mainly from elderly people.

As the local population is ageing, the city says it plans to review the number of services and the timetable further as ridership grows.

A woman living in the residential area said, "I go with my mother to her hospital visits, and changing buses was a real burden. Having a direct bus is truly a great help."