Government OKs JR Tokai's Maglev Train Project

TOKYO, JAPAN - OCT. 17: The government approved an application by Central Japan Railway Co. to build a magnetically levitated train line linking Tokyo and Nagoya by 2027 in a costly project that faces significant technical hurdles on Friday, October 17. The firm is expected to start construction possibly later this month, aiming to complete the line in 2027 that will link Tokyo's Shinagawa and Nagoya in central Japan in only 40 minutes, compared with 88 minutes at the shortest taken by the current bullet train operated by the company. The company, also known as JR Tokai, plans to extend the line further westward to Osaka by 2045, shortening the trip between the two major Japanese cities to 67 minutes from the current 138 minutes minimum travel time for a bullet train. The overall cost of the work is estimated at 9 trillion yen, about 84.5 billion of US dollars. Transport minister Akihiro Ota told a press conference that there is a concern about the project's environmental impact, pointing to the need for JR Tokai to win acceptance from local residents. The Tokyo-Nagoya maglev train line will pass through seven prefectures. According to the construction plan, 86 percent of the 286-km Tokyo-Nagoya line will be tunnels and trains will run more than 40 meters underground in urban areas.