Speeding up projects of trunk railway services
This refers to projects designed to improve trunk route railway services other than the construction of Shinkansen bullet train lines. Based on the projects for example, the Shinkansen bullet train has been linked directly to existing railway services from Fukushima to Yamagata or from Morioka to Akita. Also, railway services have been sped up on the Sekisho line in Hokkaido, the Hokuetsu-Hoku line in Niigata Prefecture, the Chizu line in Hyogo and Shimane Prefectures, the Nippou line in Fukuoka and Oita Prefectures, and the Sanin and Miyafuku lines in Kyoto and Fukui Prefectures. The speed was improved by 10% to 38%. In the spring of 1999, high speed services will be available for the Kotoku line linking the prefectural capitals of Kagawa and Tokushima, both in the Shikoku region. The project will also increase the freight transportation capacity of Japan's main trunk line, Tokaido line (making it possible to operate extended-formation container trains). Another project under progress is to increase the number of Tokaido Shinkansen services from the current 11 to 15 per hour, to boost transport capacity.
The project of linking Shinkansen to regular railway lines
The construction of Shinkansen bullet train services is based on Nationwide Shinkansen Railway Development Law. The project to link Shinkansen to regular railway lines, on the other hand, adjusts the rail gauge of existing railway lines and links them directly with Shinkansen services. Therefore, these are handled as regular railway investments outside the framework of the law above. Under this project, the sections between Tokyo and Yamagata (train name : Yamabiko) and between Tokyo and Akita (train name: Komachi) have already opened. The extension of the Yamagata route to Kitano-Shinjo has recently opened. Because of the high speed of the Shinkansen bullet trains, Shinkansen routes are normally shielded from other types of traffic. This is not the case with the sections linked directly to existing railway routes.
