Japan Ruling Pair Working on Hokuriku Shinkansen Extension Route

Tokyo, May 6 (Jiji Press)--Japan's two ruling parties are set to speed up talks on selecting a detailed route for the planned extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line.

The Liberal Democratic Party and its partner, the Japan Innovation Party, are hoping to pick one from the eight candidate routes under review within the current session of the Diet, the country's parliament, and launch construction in fiscal 2027, which starts next April.

The Hokuriku Shinkansen Line is set to be extended from Tsuruga Station in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, one of the current two terminals of the line, to Shin-Osaka Station in the city of Osaka, the capital of the namesake prefecture in western Japan.

The LDP aims to conclude the talks with the selection of the original candidate route, which would link the two stations via the Fukui city of Obama and Kyoto Station in the city of Kyoto, the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, which is located between Fukui and Osaka prefectures.

With the JIP remaining opposed to the so-called Obama-Kyoto route, the governing parties may face difficulties reaching a conclusion by the July 17 end of the Diet session.

[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]