CHUO Shinkansen, the 286km superconducting maglev line planned between Tokyo and Nagoya, will no longer open in 2027. Promoter Central Japan Railway (JR Central) confirmed on March 29 that the earliest the line will now start operating is 2034.
"While we cannot project a new opening date, we will continue to do everything we can toward launching as soon as possible," Mr Shunsuke Niwa, JR Central’s president told officials during a meeting at the transport ministry.
According to local media reports, another JR Central senior executive explained at the same meeting that it was unlikely the planned construction period of 10 years could be significantly reduced.
The Yen 7.04 trillion ($US 64.35bn) 500km/h project has encountered fierce opposition from environmental campaigners in Shizuoka prefecture. A document from JR Central issued ahead of the meeting reportedly refers to the failure to start construction of the Shizuoka section as the "direct cause" of the delay in opening the first part of the line. It is unclear when the second phase of the line, from Nagoya to Osaka, originally scheduled for 2037, will now open.
When the line is complete, the journey time between Tokyo and Nagoya is forecast to reduce to 40 minutes. The stretch between Nagoya to Osaka will take 27 minutes, more than halving the fastest journey times of Shinkansen high-speed services.
