Maglev Shinkansen Costs Seen Ballooning Further to 11 T. Yen

Nagoya, Oct. 29 (Jiji Press)–Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, said Wednesday that the total construction costs for its planned superfast magnetically levitated Shinkansen train line is expected to swell further to 11 trillion yen, almost double the initially projected level of some 5.5 trillion yen. It is the second time that the project cost estimate has been revised up for the Chuo Shinkansen line linking Tokyo’s Shinagawa Station and Nagoya Station in the city of Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, central Japan. The cost estimate, which initially stood at 5.52 trillion yen, was revised to 7.04 trillion yen in 2021. The second revision reflects the impact of soaring prices in recent years and an increase in costs at areas where construction is difficult, JR Tokai said. Of the additional costs of about 4 trillion yen, 2.3 trillion yen will cover material and labor costs, and 1.2 trillion yen is set for allocation for difficult construction, including a mountain tunnel. “I take the increase (in the construction costs) seriously,” JR Tokai President Shunsuke Niwa said at a press conference in Nagoya. JR Tokai explained that it can cover the additional costs with its operating revenue and bond issuance assuming that the maglev line will be opened in 2035. But it does not mean that the line is expected to open in 2035, the company said. As construction has yet to start in a section in Shizuoka Prefecture, east of Aichi, the maglev line is expected to go into service in 2036 at the earliest. Citing a possible need to raise its railway fares to secure additional funds for the maglev Shinkansen project in the event of continued inflation, JR Tokai plans to ask the transport ministry to introduce a system that allows railway companies to change their fares flexibly. On Tuesday, a ground uplift was found near a construction site in Tokyo’s Shinagawa Ward, causing the work to be suspended. JR Tokai is investigating a possible causal relationship between the construction work and the ground uplift. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]