Japan¡¯s ruling coalition adopted a plan Wednesday that will extend the Hokuriku Shinkansen line from the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, to Osaka through Kyoto on a route taking it near ¡ª but not directly to ¡ª Kyoto Station.?
The Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party (JIP) chose the proposal over several other possible routes for the final extension of the shinkansen line that, when fully completed, will connect Nagano and Kanazawa to Osaka.?
The Hokuriku Shinkansen¡¯s 139-kilometer extension from Tsuruga to Osaka will run through eastern Kyoto Prefecture and will have its own station 5 kilometers west of the current Kyoto Station before continuing south to Osaka and terminating at Shin-Osaka Station, where passengers can change for local and express trains to central Osaka or the Tokaido Shinkansen.?
Completion of the extension is expected to take around 26 years. In April 2023, the project¡¯s cost was calculated at ?3.4 trillion. But that figure is expected to climb to ?4.8 trillion ($30 billion) based on rising prices over the past three years.?
At present, the Hokuriku Shinkansen runs between Tokyo and Tsuruga through Nagano.?
Once the extension is completed, travel time between Shin-Osaka Station to Nagano Station, which currently takes 3 hours and 19 minutes on regular JR lines, will be cut to 2 hours and 25 minutes. Travel time between Kanazawa Station and Shin-Osaka Station, currently 2 hours and 5 minutes, will be reduced to 1 hour and 20 minutes, according to the Osaka Prefectural Government.
The Hokuriku Shinkansen¡¯s Kyoto stop will be at a new station to be constructed 50 meters underground near the current Katsuragawa Station in order to avoid traffic jams on the roads that pass underneath the regular JR Kyoto Line.?
For Hokuriku Shinkansen passengers disembarking at the new Katsuragawa station, transfer to regular trains leading to Kyoto Station will take about 20 minutes.?
Debate on the route for the final extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen has been going on for years, especially in the Kansai region. In addition to the adopted ¡°Katsuragawa plan,¡± the LDP and the JIP had considered a separate, more expensive,? proposal ¡ª the ¡°North-South plan¡± ¡ª that would have placed the Kyoto stop underground beside Kyoto Station.?
In choosing to route the extension through Kyoto Prefecture, the ruling bloc also rejected the ¡°Maibara plan,¡± a proposal that would have had it pass through the city of Maibara, Shiga Prefecture, before continuing to the city of Kyoto along the route of the current Tokaido Shinkansen line.?
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