Japan accelerates Bullet Train expansion

The government of Japan has brought forward two extensions for its "Bullet Train" Shinkansen high-speed railway lines. 

The completion date for the 121km Kanazawa-to-Tsuruga extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, on Japan’s main island of Honshu, has been brought forward from 2025 to 2022.  

The adjoining 228km Kanazawa-to-Nagano section will open in March this year. 

The 211km second phase of the Hokkaido Shinkansen, on Japan’s second largest island, from Shin-Hakodate to Sapporo, is now due to open in 2030, five years earlier than previous estimates. 

Testing is now under way on a 149km section which goes from Shin-Aomori to Hakodate, which is to open next year. 

An extension of Kyushu Shinkansen from Takeo-Onsen to Nagasaki is also due to be accelerated. 

Japan recently approved its first magnetic-levitation line, a 380km link between Tokyo and Nagoya, that will eventually be extended to Japan’s second city of Osaka. 

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