Narita Shinkansen

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The Narita Shinkansen (成田新幹線) was a project to connect Narita International Airport to Tokyo Station with a high-speed Shinkansen ("bullet train" line). The project has been abandoned and will be replaced by the Narita Rapid Railway.

1 History
2 Route
3 Future
4 Technical details
5 External links

[edit] History

Planning of the Narita Shinkansen started in 1966 and permission to build was granted in 1972. Construction started 1974, but was significantly hampered due to resistance from local residents protesting against the expropriation of their land for a project that would bring no benefit to them. (Similar issues have afflicted Narita Airport itself.) Construction was frozen in 1983 and the Basic Plan granting construction rights was cancelled by a special law in 1987 — the only Shinkansen line ever to meet this fate.

Due to the opposition, only a 9-km stretch of track bed and the airport station shell had been constructed before the project was halted. While the Shinkansen link was stalled, the private Keisei Electric Railway had constructed an ordinary rail link to airport. However, Keisei services had to terminate outside airport grounds and transfer passengers by bus, as the station inside the airport and the track connecting to it was owned by (now former) state operator JR.

After the passage of the groundbreaking Railway Enterprise Law in 1986, Keisei acquired the rights to operate as a "third type" (第3種) railway company that leases tracks from JR, and starting in 1991 both Keisei and JR have operated direct airport services to the terminal built for the Shinkansen. The culvert connecting to the airport station was also originally designed for Shinkansen use.

[edit] Route

The line was to originate at underground platforms located roughly equidistant from Tokyo Station and Yurakucho Station in central Tokyo. From there, it was to run underground to Etchujima in Koto Ward, then above ground, following the Tozai Line route across the Ara River to Funabashi. In Funabashi, the line was to again run underground, emerging in Shiroi, then following a smooth curve through Chiba New Town and central Narita, and finally running underground again to terminate beneath the passenger terminal at Narita Airport. Originally, the Tokyo-Narita trains were to make no station stops: JNR later added one additional station to the planned line to serve Chiba New Town.

Much of this right of way is presently used by commuter lines. The area of Tokyo Station earmarked for the Shinkansen platforms and the underground tunnel to Etchujima are now used by the JR Keiyo Line. Much of the above-ground right of way had already been earmarked by the Chiba Prefecture for railway use. The Hokuso Railway uses one segment of this right of way between Komuro and Chiba New Town. Another section between Chiba New Town and the airport is presently being prepared for use as part of the Narita Rapid Railway.

[edit] Future

While revivals of the Narita Shinkansen are proposed periodically, the cancellation of the basic plan, lack of political will and the construction of the Narita Rapid Railway as a replacement all combine make this unlikely. The Rapid Railway is being built as standard gauge (like the Shinkansen), theoretically leaving a door open for eventual conversion. However, the Rapid Railway's design speed is only 160 km/h and it will — at least initially — terminate at Keisei's part of Ueno Station, not the more central Shinkansen hub of Tokyo Station.

[edit] Technical details

With a design speed of 200 km/h, the Narita Shinkansen was designed to cover the 65-kilometer distance in 35 minutes, including a stop at Chiba New Town. Currently, the Narita Express takes 53 minutes for the same trip (non-stop but along different tracks, making a detour via Chiba), but this should improve to 36 minutes from Narita to Nippori when the Narita Rapid Railway is completed in 2010.