Japan rail operator gives up plan to launch maglev train in 2027

Let us keep this pork barrel going as long as possible, and then some...

Original schedule, 2024 will be just 3 years, with labor shortage that just impossible.

Contributing to Shizuoka’s displeasure over this 8.9 kilometer tunnel is residents’ discomfort with the fact that trains on the new maglev line will not stop in Shizuoka.

Can't the federal government step in and do something to get this thing done on schedule? I know eminent domain can be used in the case of privately-owned land, but what if the land is prefecturally owned?

Tokaido shinkansen have been there for decades. Why need of another shinkansen to Nagoya? Why not put Linear shinkansen in Kyushu or Hokkaido there?

serve as a vital backup between the country's three major metropolises in the event of major disasters such as powerful earthquakes involving potential tsunami

Something tells me that a Maglev train would travelling at such high speeds would be quite vulnerable to disasters such as earthquakes and things.

Also Nagoya is a major metropolis?

I think it's better to invest in extending the high speed rail network. Keep working on the extension to Sapporo and then push it through to Asahikawa. That's an investment in the future as more Japanese will move north due to climate change.

Contributing to Shizuoka’s displeasure over this 8.9 kilometer tunnel is residents’ discomfort with the fact that trains on the new maglev line will not stop in Shizuoka.

Where the track is planned there is literally no people living in that small section where it crosses through Shizuoka Province

Yet another MASSIVE money-wasting boondoggle.

"Can't the federal government step in and do something to get this thing done on schedule?"

Federal Government?!

Japan is a unitary State.

Their currency is the Yen!

Yet another MASSIVE money-wasting boondoggle.

I'm sure someone wrote exactly the same thing to their local newspaper 120 years ago when roads began to be paved for use by automobiles.

Yet another MASSIVE money-wasting boondoggle.

The social contract here depends on such things. What better way of getting people inured to privation and gaman endurance than ‘twenty year plans’ of this sort.

The Maglev line in Shanghai China was already been in operation for 21 years!

awomdeToday  09:25 am JST

Contributing to Shizuoka’s displeasure over this 8.9 kilometer tunnel is residents’ discomfort with the fact that trains on the new maglev line will not stop in Shizuoka.

Where the track is planned there is literally no people living in that small section where it crosses through Shizuoka Province

Yes, almost no people are living there. There are major (onsen) spa resources under/around the small section that is supposed to be the tunnel. If the tunnel constructions affected the onsen flow, a lot of onsen owners couldn't get enough hot water for onsen and then they couldn't do major onsen business as same as before. That's why so many onsen owners oppose the tunnel. Onsen business is major business in Shizuoka.

Give up now and improve what's already built.

I'm sure someone wrote exactly the same thing to their local newspaper 120 years ago when roads began to be paved for use by automobiles

@DT, I am most likely speaking about things I know little about, BUT in my defense, I heard over drinks from people very knowledgeable AND are very pro maglev, because maglev (cough cough) is more efficient than jetliners.

Apparently, theoretical speed is up to 1000km/hr, but you only have to lift the train an inch off the track vs lifting a plane to cruising altitude of jetliners.

I did counter to them that track cost of maglev is 30 times higher than tgat of HSR and constantly wasting energy to keep things on track, but they say it’s not relevant because maglev is trying to replace jet travel, not HSR.

I'm just glad it's not my money.

/dev/random....

That's a 30 kilometer showpiece that has never been profitable for a single day. A technological achievement, certainly, but not an economical one.

It also runs from the airport to somewhere not that convenient but do you think Japan's maglev is ever going to break even? That is of course if it ever gets built.

bleak future, plans for new airplanes postponed for over 10 years from now, no new technology for trains, so it goes...

an easy forecast, no need for AI predictors: the way the economy is going, 10 years from now the optimists in the government will postpone everything again

If it ever operates the technology will be outdated.

there is no need for this in a country which will have 10 million people less by the time it is now scheduled to open.

the only reason of existence is to fill the pockets of domestic companies and shareholders with tax payers money whom will be extorted a 2nd time when they buy a ticket

and shorten the travel time between the capital and Osaka to just 67 minutes

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I have no desire to make that trip so quickly. I used to travel a lot between Osaka and Tokyo. It took about three hours when I started doing it. (It's now about two and a half hours. ) That seemed perfect. I could relax, have a beer or coffee, watch the scenery, see the top of Mount Fuji on about one out of three trips, and have a nap.

＠kwatt

The problem is not onsen, it is thought that the proposed tunnel will divert the groundwater that feeds Oigawa River. If that happens it cannot be repaired and it is an important source of drinking water.

Possible, the 'water' issue being used to kill this project, that likely cannot be justified on any economic basis.

"The Maglev line in Shanghai China was already been in operation for 21 years!"

Indeed!

"Police initially detained dozens of people, bundling them into waiting cars, vans and buses, as protesters gathered in front of city hall shouting "We don't want the maglev" and carrying placards reading: "No to maglev -- bad for health"."

"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-maglev-protest/hundreds-protest-shanghai-maglev-rail-extension-idUSPEK32757920080112/"

" It was the second time in two years that the high-profile, costly German-made maglev has generated protests in Shanghai, China’s commercial capital."

"https://www.statesboroherald.com/local/associated-press/protest-against-maglev-train-in-shanghai-forces-government-acknowledgement/"

Maybe Japan should become like China?!

Whole magnet thing in Asia is weird, some seriously strange ideas about the magnets, from medical to religious etc.

Cancellation of the plan should be an option.

Here in the States there is tremendous opposition to high speed rail from Big Oil and the Republican Party. They throw up roadblocks to improving this part of the infrastructure at every turn.

 Can't the federal government step in and do something to get this thing done on schedule?  

Japan isn't a federation.

The problem is not onsen, it is thought that the proposed tunnel will divert the groundwater that feeds Oigawa River. If that happens it cannot be repaired and it is an important source of drinking water.

Onsen is also groundwater heated by magma. The onsen may be diverted somewhere. So onsen owners oppose the tunnel construction. Nobody really knows until the construction is done.

That's a 30 kilometer showpiece that has never been profitable for a single day. A technological achievement, certainly, but not an economical one.

One could count on the fingers of one hand the number of public transportation systems and passenger railroads where fares cover all the costs to operate the system. But the same is true of road transportation. Pretty much all forms of transportation require taxpayer money to be built and to operate. That doesn't mean governments should not do this. There are three things nations have to do and do well in order to have a prosperous economy. Those three things are build infrastructure, education and health care. Those are core matters for any nation interested in being economically well off, and transportation infrastructure is among the most important things a nation can fund and build in order to support business and have a strong economy. Mobility matters.

Japan rail operator gives up plan to launch maglev train in 2027

Just wait. In due course, the headline will change to:

Japan rail operator gives up plan to launch maglev train

kwattMar. 30  08:21 am JST

Tokaido shinkansen have been there for decades. Why need of another shinkansen to Nagoya? Why not put Linear shinkansen in Kyushu or Hokkaido there?

Because the Tokaido Shinkansen is at the capacity limit. There's a train going like every 3 minutes. There is no capacity to add further trains.

And there isn't enough demand in Kyushu or Hokkaido for a maglev. There, the regular Shinkansen is enough and still has capacity.

IMadeAnAccountJustForThisMar. 30  08:44 am JST

...

Something tells me that a Maglev train would travelling at such high speeds would be quite vulnerable to disasters such as earthquakes and things.

Also Nagoya is a major metropolis?

The are the maglev goes through is less prone to earthquake damages. And just by principle, a maglev is likely safer that regular rail as derailment is pretty much impossible. Though, when it comes to Earthquake safety the Japanese can be well trusted.

And yes, Nagoya has more than 2 million people.

deanzaZZRMar. 30  09:21 am JST

I think it's better to invest in extending the high speed rail network. Keep working on the extension to Sapporo and then push it through to Asahikawa. That's an investment in the future as more Japanese will move north due to climate change.

One doesn't exclude the other. They are continuously expanding the network. The Chuo line is part of that as the Tokaido is at the capacity limit.

The Shinkansen line to Sapporo is projected to be completed in 2030.

factcheckerMar. 30  02:06 pm JST

Give up now and improve what's already built.

It's not that they are not doing that.

But the Tokaido has no capacity left. Another line had to be build. And it then makes sense to build a more direct and faster alternative than just some parallel line.

robert maesMar. 30  05:10 pm JST

...

there is no need for this in a country which will have 10 million people less by the time it is now scheduled to open.

The Tokaido line is the busiest high-speed line in the world, operating at absolute max capacity with trains leaving every 3 minutes.

There is demand.

albaleoMar. 30  05:23 pm JST

Maybe it's because I'm old, but I have no desire to make that trip so quickly. I used to travel a lot between Osaka and Tokyo. It took about three hours when I started doing it. (It's now about two and a half hours. ) That seemed perfect. I could relax, have a beer or coffee, watch the scenery, see the top of Mount Fuji on about one out of three trips, and have a nap.

Plenty of people, specifically workers, have that need though. It'll save them a lot of time and offer new commute routes. The Tokaido line is at the capacity limit, so there is clearly demand.

alwaysgrowerMar. 31  02:28 am JST

Cancellation of the plan should be an option.

And then do what with the huge demand that the Tokaido line alone can't fulfill?

owzerMar. 31  07:46 pm JST

Just wait. In due course, the headline will change to:

Japan rail operator gives up plan to launch maglev train

Much of it has already been constructed. And they'll have to do something, as the Tokaido line is at the capacity limit.

The maglev will come. The demand is there. It's just a question about when.

/dev/randomMar. 30  03:44 pm JST

That's the point; If it's not economical, why build it? Isn't it better to abandon the project now, rather than to throw good money after bad?

Would you have argued the same way when the interstate highway system was build?

Infrastructure (roads, rail, sewage, power, etc.) costs money. It hardly ever is profitable in itself. The advantages of good infrastructure are felt elsewhere.

HopeSpringsEternalMar. 30  08:15 pm JST

Whole magnet thing in Asia is weird, some seriously strange ideas about the magnets, from medical to religious etc.

The use of electromagnetism isn't an Asian thing ...