The £33bn train line connecting millions that’s 90% underground | World | News
A new £33.27 billion train line is under construction that will connect millions of people. Chūō Shinkansen is a Japanese train line under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya, with plans to extend to Osaka. The first section is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, with stations in Sagamihara, Kōfu, Iida, and Nakatsugawa. After the completion of the Tokyo-Nagoya line, the line will extend to stations in Mie, Nara and Osaka. There will be a station for each region the line passes through.
It is expected to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in 40 minutes, and eventually Tokyo and Osaka in 67 minutes, and reach a maximum speed of 314 mph. Approximately 90% of the 278-mile line to Nagoya will consist of tunnels. The government’s permission to continue construction was granted in 2011. The construction is expected to cost over 9 trillion Japanese yen (approximately £33.27 billion) and construction is expected to begin in 2014.
The start date of commercial service is unknown after Shizuoka Prefecture denied permission for construction work on part of the route in June 2020.
Construction delays meant the 2025 opening was pushed back to earlier than 2035. The Nagoya-Osaka section was planned to be completed as late as 2045, but the date was moved to as early as 2037 following a loan from the Japanese government.
The line’s route passes through many sparsely populated areas in the Japanese Alps (Akaishi Mountains), but is more direct than the existing Tōkaidō Shinkansen route.
Time saved thanks to a more direct route was a more important criterion for JR Central than having stations in medium population centres.
Additionally, the more densely populated Tōkaidō route is congested and the new line providing an alternative route in case the Tōkaidō Shinkansen is blocked by earthquake damage has also been considered.
Japan is known for its Shinkansen train system, which has been in operation since 1964. Maglev bullet trains are the world’s fastest trains, using magnetic propulsion to make the train ‘float’.
