TOKYO –
Plans to deliver Shinkansen service to Shikoku have taken a big step ahead for the primary time in 53 years, with the transport ministry starting preliminary research that might finally lower journey occasions from Osaka to main cities together with Tokushima, Takamatsu and Matsuyama to round 90 minutes.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism introduced on August 7 that it could start primary research of proposed Shinkansen networks in Shikoku and jap Kyushu.
Shikoku is presently the one one in all Japan’s 4 principal islands with out Shinkansen service.
The announcement doesn’t imply building has been accepted. The initiatives stay on the preliminary research stage, the place potential routes, station places and anticipated passenger demand can be examined earlier than any resolution is made on whether or not to proceed to extra detailed legally required research.
The transfer nonetheless marks the primary main advance in plans which have remained largely dormant for greater than half a century.
The unique Shikoku Shinkansen idea, courting again to the period of Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, envisioned a route from Shin-Osaka via Awaji Island and Shikoku earlier than persevering with throughout to Oita in Kyushu.
That bold proposal has turn out to be more and more troublesome to justify due to building prices and uncertainty over demand.
Attention has as an alternative shifted towards what’s being described as “Shinkansen in Shikoku,” centered on a community extending from Okayama to the prefectural capitals of Shikoku.
Local governments in all 4 Shikoku prefectures and regional enterprise teams have been pushing for the Okayama-based route, and the transport ministry’s resolution to start research has been considered domestically as recognition of that help.
If the community had been accomplished, journey from Shin-Osaka to a number of main Shikoku cities may fall to round 90 minutes.
Travel to Matsuyama and Kochi might be roughly halved in contrast with present journey occasions. Tokushima, which may now be reached from Osaka in round 2 1/2 hours by highway through Awaji Island, may additionally turn out to be about an hour nearer.
The shorter journey occasions may make day journeys from Kansai to locations corresponding to Matsuyama and Kochi extra sensible and considerably cut back the psychological distance between Shikoku and the Osaka area.
Within Shikoku itself, proponents say Tokushima, Takamatsu, Matsuyama and Kochi may every be related in roughly two hours, making motion between the island’s main cities considerably simpler.
The potential financial affect inside Shikoku has been estimated at round 16.9 billion yen a yr.
One main cause the Okayama route is taken into account extra practical is the Seto Ohashi bridge connecting Honshu and Shikoku.
The bridge was constructed with house that might accommodate Shinkansen tracks, that means a part of the infrastructure wanted for a high-speed railway already exists.
An analogous alternative as soon as existed on the route between Kobe and Awaji Island.
The Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was initially thought of as a mixed road-and-rail crossing, just like the Seto Ohashi and the Onaruto Bridge. However, the financial slowdown following the oil shocks and the monetary issues of the previous Japanese National Railways weakened prospects for the Shikoku Shinkansen.
Authorities in the end prioritized highway building, and the Akashi Kaikyo Bridge was constructed just for freeway visitors.
That resolution makes a Shinkansen route via Awaji Island rather more troublesome right now and has strengthened the case for accessing Shikoku via Okayama and the Seto Ohashi.
The present course of stays at an early stage.
The preliminary primary research will look at broad route choices, attainable station places and estimated demand. If the challenge advances, a extra detailed statutory investigation would look at necessities corresponding to tunnels and bridges and calculate building prices.
Only after these levels may political approval result in adoption of a proper growth plan and elevation to the standing of a building Shinkansen challenge.
That means Shikoku stays properly behind initiatives already within the growth course of, together with the proposed extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen from Tsuruga towards Osaka.
However, the extended debate over the Hokuriku route has additionally raised the chance that progress on different proposed Shinkansen initiatives may finally speed up.
A central problem for Shikoku can be whether or not to construct a full-standard Shinkansen or undertake a lower-cost various.
Local governments are in search of a full-standard line with devoted double-track infrastructure, new rolling stock, no degree crossings and most speeds of round 260 kilometers per hour, much like different Shinkansen strains constructed beneath Japan’s growth program.
Such a system would supply the best travel-time reductions however would even be the costliest.
Government paperwork have urged that future Shinkansen initiatives may as an alternative think about lower-cost approaches in areas with restricted demand.
Options may embody constructing sections with a single observe and passing amenities or adopting a mini-Shinkansen system much like these utilized in Akita and Yamagata, the place trains can proceed onto transformed standard railway strains.
Such measures may cut back building prices whereas avoiding the necessity for passengers to switch between trains, though speeds could be decrease on standard sections and degree crossings would stay.
How far native authorities are prepared to compromise on their demand for a full-standard system may considerably have an effect on the pace and feasibility of the challenge.
A primary part so far as Takamatsu might be comparatively simpler to develop as a result of a considerable portion of the Okayama-Takamatsu hall already makes use of the Seto Ohashi infrastructure designed with future railway capability in thoughts.
The authorities can also be finding out the East Kyushu Shinkansen, one other long-discussed challenge.
That proposal would run alongside the jap aspect of Kyushu via Oita and Miyazaki earlier than reaching Kagoshima.
Supporters argue that such a route may present another transport hall throughout disasters, significantly when current railway infrastructure is disrupted.
Demand, nevertheless, is a serious concern.
Passenger numbers on standard railway sections close to the Oita-Miyazaki prefectural border have fallen to round one-third of their degree about 30 years in the past, with some trains carrying passenger numbers akin to a single bus.
At some distant stations, solely a handful of trains cease every day, illustrating the problem of demonstrating ample demand for the big funding required for a Shinkansen.
Shikoku faces a special however associated concern over what is named the “straw effect.”
High-speed rail can strengthen regional economies by enhancing entry, however it might probably additionally draw folks, spending and enterprise exercise towards bigger cities.
If Shin-Osaka and Shikoku’s main cities had been solely round 90 minutes aside, extra folks and cash may circulate towards Kansai.
Tourism is also affected. Easier day journeys would possibly enhance customer numbers whereas lowering in a single day stays, doubtlessly hurting inns and different companies that depend upon longer visits.
Supporters of the challenge subsequently face a broader query past whether or not a Shinkansen might be constructed: whether or not the brand new railway might be designed in a approach that strengthens Shikoku’s financial system somewhat than accelerating the focus of exercise in bigger metropolitan areas.
Because Shikoku and jap Kyushu could be among the many final areas in Japan to obtain Shinkansen service, planners could have the benefit of studying from the experiences of cities the place high-speed rail has already produced each advantages and unintended financial results.
Source: YOMIURI