Central Japan Railway selected a joint venture led by Taisei Corp. to construct a 7.7 km section of the total 25 km tunnel on the nation’s first commercial magnetic levitation railway which is slated to begin operation in 2027. The railway operator and the group signed the contract on August 26.

“This is the first step to full launch of construction,” said President of JR Central Koei Tsuge at the press conference on August 27, citing groundbreaking of the likely most difficult stage of the project.

The group consisting of Taisei, Sato Kogyo and Zenitaka will bore 7.7 km stretch of the 25 km tunnel expanding in Yamanashi, Shizuoka and Nagano Prefecture, which will require advanced engineering technology as it is running deep under the 3,000m Japanese Alps.

The Central Maglev Shinkansen is expected to complete in 2027 on the 285 km route between Shinagawa, Tokyo and Nagoya, costing total 5.5 trillion yen. The company begun preparation works at the terminal stations on both ends last December. (2015/08/31)