At a press conference, JR Central President Shunsuke Niwa revealed that the company has begun "environmental assessments" such as geological surveys in preparation for the opening of the "Linear Chuo Shinkansen" from Nagoya to the west side. Based on the results of the survey, the company will continue to narrow down the locations of routes and stations.
Regarding the Linear Chuo Shinkansen, JR Central is currently working on the opening of the Shinagawa-Nagoya route, while exchanging opinions with local governments and conducting literature surveys on the route west of Nagoya has been limited to exchanging opinions with local governments.
Against this backdrop, JR Central President Niwa announced at a press conference held in Osaka on the 7th that the company had started an "environmental assessment" to conduct geological surveys in Nara and Mie prefectures earlier this week.
These surveys are necessary to narrow down the specific routes and station locations, and we have entered a concrete stage toward the start of construction between Nagoya and Osaka.
When the Linear Chuo Shinkansen between Shinagawa and Osaka opens, it will connect in as little as 1 hour and 7 minutes.
At the press conference, President Niwa stated, "The Linear Chuo Shinkansen has high expectations from people from Nagoya to the west, and we would like to work toward the opening of the entire line."
On the other hand, regarding the Linear Chuo Shinkansen between Nagoya and Osaka, JR Central has been aiming to open as early as 2037, but President Niwa acknowledged that it will be difficult to open as originally scheduled due to the fact that construction in Shizuoka Prefecture has not been started.