INTERVIEW: JR Tokai to Keep Working on Maglev Shinkansen Construction

Nagoya, Jan. 7 (Jiji Press)–Shunsuke Niwa, president of Central Japan Railway Co., or JR Tokai, has stressed that the company will continue promoting the construction of the Chuo Shinkansen high-speed magnetic levitation train line. “We will steadily work (on the construction),” he said in a recent interview in Nagoya, the capital of Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, where the company is headquartered. The maglev line is initially set to connect Shinagawa Station in Tokyo and Nagoya Station in the Aichi capital, and then slated to be extended to Osaka Station in the western prefecture of Osaka. Partly reflecting recent inflation, the construction cost for the Shinagawa-Nagoya section is now seen ballooning to 11 trillion yen. While the timing of the opening of the line has become unclear, Niwa said that JR Tokai plans to step up the dissemination of information, including on the significance of Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka, the country’s three metropolitan areas, being connected more closely through the maglev Shinkansen line. Niwa apologized over the issue of the water level in a well in the city of Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, an Aichi neighbor, falling due to an effect of tunnel construction for the line. “We are sorry for causing concern and inconvenience to local people,” he said, adding that the company has finished digging an alternative well and is preparing for the start of its use by the end of this month. He refrained from showing a prospect for a section in Shizuoka Prefecture, east of Aichi, for which construction has yet to start because of controversy over environmental impacts. “We will continue dialogue and try to start construction (on the Shizuoka section) as soon as possible,” he said. Niwa said that tunnel construction beneath Nagoya will fully start in mid-January. The president said private compartments will be introduced Oct. 1 on some train cars for JR Tokai’s existing Tokaido Shinkansen Line, which connects Tokyo and Osaka. JR Tokai, which has made certain improvements regarding Shinkansen operations, such as an increase in the number of Nozomi fastest trains, is now keen to “provide services that meet diverse passenger needs,” Niwa said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]