The government and ruling bloc Thursday urged Japan Railway group to shoulder some of the construction costs for new bullet train projects, government officials said.
The government and ruling bloc's agreement on railway construction suggested that regional JR firms should shoulder some of the costs for new lines even outside their service areas since the new services could bring them more passengers, the officials said.
But the request met with strong opposition from East Japan Railway Co. and West Japan Railway Co.
The government and ruling bloc -- the Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito -- reached a formal agreement to launch construction of three new bullet train line sections in fiscal 2005.
The extensions are from Shin-Aomori, Aomori Prefecture, to Shin-Hakodate, Hokkaido, on the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line; Toyama to Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, on the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line; and Takeo hot springs, Saga Prefecture, to Isahaya, Nagasaki Prefecture, on the Kyushu Shinkansen Line's Nagasaki route.
The new sections are expected to be completed in about 10 years, but the plan says construction should be completed "as soon as possible."
Hokkaido Gov. Harumi Takahashi said the plan to connect Hokkaido with Honshu with a bullet train "will be a big opportunity" to bring in more tourists to Hokkaido.
She said the prefecture will keep pressure on the government to extend the line to Sapporo.
The government and ruling bloc adopted a plan to spend 219.5 billion yen in fiscal 2005 on the construction of bullet train lines.
The total includes a 70.6 billion yen outlay from the central government and 73.1 billion yen in prefectural government expenditures. The remainder will be covered with the JR group's payments for acquisition of new bullet train lines.