## 2 Constructing arterial railway networks

## (1) Development of Shinkansen railways

A rapid transit system of vital value to Japan, Shinkansen [bullet train] Lines significantly cut the time spent moving from region to region and help greatly boost regional activities and rejuvenate local economies. Shinkansen Lines feature safety (no record of passenger death accidents since opening of the Tokaido Shinkansen Line in 1964) and eco-friendliness (the railway $ CO_{2} $ emissions per unit of energy (g- $ CO_{2} $ /passenger-kilometer) being one fifth of aircraft and one eighth of automobiles). As New Shinkansen Note , Tohoku Shinkansen (between Hachinohe and Shin-Aomori) opened in December 2010 and the Kagoshima Route (between Hakata and Shin-Yatsushiro) of Kyushu Shinkansen opened in March 2011, and Hokuriku Shinkansen (between Nagano and Kanazawa) in March 2015 and Hokkaido Shinkansen (between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate Hokuto) in March 2016.

For those sections of the Shinkansen whose construction started in June 2012 (between Shin-Hakodate Hokuto and Sapporo on the Hokkaido Shinkansen line, between Kanazawa and Tsuruga on the Hokuriku Shinkansen line and between Takeo Spa and Nagasaki on the Kyushu Shinkansen line), their opening schedules have been accelerated in accordance with “Handling of New Shinkansen Lines” (agreed upon between the government and the ruling party on January 14, 2015). More specifically, the Hokkaido Shinkansen line (between Shin-Hakodate Hokuto and Sapporo) is scheduled to complete and open at the end of FY 2030 five years ahead of the end of FY 2035 as originally scheduled, the Hokuriku Shinkansen line (between Kanazawa and Turuga) at the end of FY 2022 three years ahead of the end of FY 2025 as originally scheduled. In the meantime, the completion and opening schedules of the Kyushu Shinkansen line (between Takeo Spa and Nagasaki) will be moved up from FY 2022 to the extent possible as works are underway at a steady pace.

The Transport Policy Council, which had debated Chuo Shinkansen since March 2010, came up with recommendations

in May 2011 to affirm the appropriateness of Central Japan Railway Company as an entity of its operation and construction, the superconducting maglev method of train operation and the Southern Alps of Japan route. The MLIT responded to name Central Japan Railway Company as an entity of operation and construction for Chuo Shinkansen in accordance with the Nationwide Shinkansen Railway Development Act, and decided on the Development Plan and directed Central Japan Railway Company to embark on construction. Central Japan Railway Company, which expects to open its Shinkansen routes between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027 and between Nagoya and Osaka in 2045, publicized and made

available for public inspection an environmental assessment report edited and finalized under the Environmental Impact Assessment Act in August 2014 and, at the same time, filed an application for Plan for Constructing the Chuo Shinkansen Line Section between Shinagawa and Nagoya Stations (No. 1) to the MLIT, which was approved by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism in October of the same year. Currently, construction of the Shinagawa Station and of the tunnels of the Southern Alps is ongoing.

## (2) Driving technical development

(i) Superconducting maglev trains

Running tests for superconducting maglev trains had been carried out on the Yamanashi Test Line since 1997. The