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| Hokkaido
Shinkansen Bullet Train Line |
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| Seikan Tunnel
Built by Shinkansen Standards |
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Based on the National Shinkansen
Lines Development Act, the development of Shinkansen lines is determined
by the master plan set by the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
which defines Shinkansen lines that should be constructed and conducts required
investigations based on the national Shinkansen line determination method.
In November1973, the decision was made to develop a Hokkaido Shinkansen
line (between Aomori and Sapporo).
In January 1998, it was decided to begin investigation for station
locations for a Shin-Hokadate Station (tentative name) while the Government-and-Ruling-Parties
New Shinkansen Line Examination Commission made decisions on groundbreaking
and priorities regarding breaking new ground, an official announcement of
a route and stations between Shin-Aomori and Sapporo was promptly announced
and investigation to assess environmental impact was begun.
In response, as a result of adjustment by the organs concerned,
in February 1998 an announcement from the Japan Railway Construction Corporation
named nine stations between Shin-Aomori and Sapporo over a 360km route.
Investigation of a Shin-Hakodate station area design started in May of the
same year followed in October by assessment procedure based on the Environmental
Assessment Act.
Moreover, by a government-and-ruling-parties agreement in December
2000, while accepting the application for the construction of an implementation
plan, it was decided to conduct an investigation of the freight railroad
Seikan Tunnel run between Shin-Aomori and Sapporo and make a decision after
an environmental impact assessment was made.
Then, after the environmental impact assessment procedure was
completed, the approval application of the construction implementation plan
of the Hokkaido Shinkansen was made to the Minister of Land, Infrastructure
and Transport from the Japan Railway Construction Corporation on January
8, 2002.
Following the government-and-ruling-parties agreement in December
2004, regarding the Hokkaido Shinkansen (between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate),
the first construction work was begun in 2005, aiming at completion by the
end of 2015 while striving for the earliest completion date possible.
Based on this, the construction implementation plan was approved
in April 2005 and construction work began in May.
While facilitating exchange between metropolitan areas, the
Hokkaido Shinkansen Line contributes to a more prosperous exchange between
Hokkaido and the Tohoku district, and has a very big effect on the economy
of the area along the line as well as on the multi-axial national land structure
of our country. Since the construction of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line is
so important, we look forward to an early completion of the project. |
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| Hokkaido Shinkansen
Station / Route |
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