Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) has started building underground
stations at terminals in Tokyo and Nagoya for the magnetically
levitated train line scheduled to start running between the two cities
in 2027.
A ceremony to pray for the safe completion of the
project was held at both stations on Wednesday. Traveling at speeds of
up to 500 kph, the linear Chuo Shinkansen line will cover the 286
kilometers between Nagoya and Tokyo’s Shinagawa area in just 40 minutes.
JR Tokai plans to extend the line further west to Osaka by 2045. The
maglev train will zip between Tokyo and Osaka in 67 minutes.
About 20 people attended the ceremony at Nagoya Station, including
representatives of residents from areas through which the new line will
pass.
“We are finally starting construction,” JR Tokai President Koei
Tsuge said at the ceremony. “I am sure there will be many difficulties
during this major project, which will take more than a decade. We want
to press ahead with construction safely, while giving proper
consideration to the preservation of the environment and working closely
with the regions the line will pass through.”
JR Tokai will
start preparatory construction for building the linear terminal station
under the existing station on company-owned land.
The rail
operator plans to begin construction on land that it does not own from
next fiscal year at the earliest. The first major hurdle will be whether
negotiations for acquiring building sites go smoothly with local
authorities along the line, which are handling talks with the
landowners.
JR Tokai reached a basic agreement Thursday with the
Aichi prefectural government and the Nagoya city government to help with
the development of areas around Nagoya Station, the acquisition of land
and other issues. JR Tokai is continuing to arrange a similar
partnership with the Gifu prefectural government.
No comments:
Post a Comment