Work is underway on a new £33.27 billion rail line to connect millions of people.
The Chūō Shinkansen is a Japanese train line under construction between Tokyo and Nagoya, with plans to extend to Osaka. The initial section is between Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in Nagoya, serving Sagamihara, Kofu, Iida and Nakatsugawa stations. After the completion of the Tokyo-Nagoya Line, the line will be extended to Mie, Nara and Osaka stations. There will be one station for each area passing through this line.
It is expected to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in 40 minutes and eventually Tokyo and Osaka in 67 minutes, running at a maximum speed of 314 mph. About 90% of the 178-mile line to Nagoya will be in tunnels. Government permission to proceed with the construction work was given in 2011. Construction is expected to cost more than ¥9 trillion Japanese yen (approximately £33.27 billion) and will begin in 2014.
Following Shizuoka Prefecture’s denial of permission for construction work on a portion of the route in June 2020, the start date of commercial service is unknown.
Construction delays meant that, in 2025, the opening was pushed back to no earlier than 2035. The Japanese government’s loan extended the completion date of the Nagoya–Osaka section from 2045 to 2037.
The line’s route passes through several sparsely populated areas in the Japanese Alps (Akashi Mountains) but is more direct than the current Tokaido Shinkansen route.
The time saved by a more direct route was a more important criterion for JR Central than having stations at intermediate population centers.
Furthermore, the more densely populated Tokaido route is congested, and the new line was considered an alternative route in case the Tokaido Shinkansen was blocked by earthquake damage.
Japan is famous for its Shinkansen train system, which has been in operation since 1964. Its maglev (magnetic levitation) bullet trains are the fastest in the world, using magnetic repulsion to ‘float’ the train.
