Extension of Hokkaido Shinkansen will be postponed until after fiscal year 2030

Tokyo (Jiji Press) – The planned extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen bullet train line to Sapporo, the capital of Hokkaido’s northernmost prefecture, will be postponed until after the 2030 budget year, it was learned on Wednesday.

The Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, or JRTT, has decided to abandon the plan to open the expanded section by the end of the 2030 budget year, informed sources said.

The decision is expected to be announced in early May, after the country’s Golden Week holiday period.

According to the sources, tunnel construction for the route has proven to be a challenge, forcing JRTT to accept a delay. The agency will try to set a new schedule for the opening.

The Hokkaido Shinkansen section between Shin-Aomori and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto opened in March 2016. The Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto-Sapporo section was originally scheduled to open in fiscal year 2035, but the Japanese government and ruling parties agreed in 2015 to bring forward the extension to fiscal year 2030.

Because tunnels cover about 80 percent of the vast section, huge rocks and poor geological conditions have hampered construction.

In December 2022, an expert panel under the Ministry of Transport reported that the expansion works were experiencing a delay of about three to four years. It also estimated that the cost of the expansion would be about ¥2.3 trillion, about ¥645 billion higher than initially expected.

The delay in opening the new section will likely impact local governments that have been considering urban development and other issues under the assumption that the new section would be in operation starting in fiscal 2030.

Hokkaido Railway Co., or JR Hokkaido, is also concerned that the delay could make it difficult to predict the positive effects of the expanded route on the business situation.