Local governments and railway officials are warning that the extension of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line could lead to the collapse of the nationwide food distribution system.

After the bullet train line is connected to Sapporo at the end of fiscal 2030, Hokkaido Railway Co. (JR Hokkaido) is expected to end operations on the 148-kilometer adjacent section of the JR Hakodate Line between Oshamanbe and Hakodate.

That section is indispensable in connecting Hokkaido with the main island of Honshu and is considered a major “logistics artery” for freight trains.

The loss of the route could prove devastating for residents and Japan Freight Railway Co. (JR Freight). But officials also say foodstuffs, like Hokkaido’s renowned potatoes and onions, might no longer reach tables nationwide.

Seven municipalities along the route are now moving to “give up on” most parts of the section.

LOGISTICS CRISIS

JR Freight pays a royalty to lease the section for its trains’ operations.

The company’s Sapporo Freight Terminal Station in the city’s Shiroishi Ward is second only to its Tokyo base in terms of daily volume of goods handled.

Forty freight trains shuttle between Hokkaido and Honshu every day on the Hakodate Line.

Fruits, vegetables, processed food products and potatoes for chips from the Tokachi region in eastern Hokkaido are common in cargo delivered to the Japanese mainland.

Plastic bottles, drinks and other processed food products, along with parcels, books and other daily life items are transported from Honshu.

If freight trains cannot go beyond Aomori Prefecture on the northern tip of Honshu and into Hokkaido, JR Freight will lose more than 20 percent of its annual cargo.

“Goods can be transported along railways only if tracks are linked to Hokkaido,” JR Freight President Shin Inukai, 63, said. “The nationwide network could rapidly collapse (without the section).”

DISTRIBUTION BY ROAD

Plans are under way to set up a large-scale logistics base on 41 hectares of farmland--equivalent to nine Tokyo Domes--near a highway interchange in Obihiro of the Tokachi region.

Harvested agricultural products will be processed there for shipment by truck to Tokachi Port and elsewhere for destinations outside Hokkaido.

The Tokachi region accounts for about a quarter of Hokkaido’s agricultural output. It started working toward installing its own logistics center as a leading food source in Japan.

Toshinobu Aritsuka, 91, chairman of the Tokachi association of agricultural cooperative leaders, welcomed the move and pledged his support.

However, he acknowledged that relying only on road and sea transport will be unrealistic, given the current shortage of truck drivers.

“Freight transportation by rail is also essential to ensure a stable supply of Tokachi agricultural products to outside Hokkaido,” Aritsuka said. “I hope discussions will be held to preserve the route.”

IMPACT ON OTHER TRACKS

The discontinuation of the Oshamanbe-Hakodate route is also expected to undermine railway operations elsewhere.

“We are doing business based on prospects of the continued freight train service,” said Yasuki Asanuma, 65, president of Iwate Galaxy Railway Co. in Morioka. “If there is no service, we will have to radically review our train operations.”

Iwate Galaxy, which has taken over part of the JR Tohoku Line, allows JR Freight to make at least 48 cargo train runs a day, and receives an annual rail usage fee of 2.6 billion yen (19.3 million) from JR Freight.

The figure accounts for 65 percent of the company’s annual revenue of 4 billion yen.

South Hokkaido Railway Co., a semi-public entity founded in Hakodate to operate a conventional line along a Shinkansen route, and Aomori Railway Co. in Aomori are also heavily dependent on track royalties from JR Freight.

Those local railway companies with tight finances could go out of business without the Oshamanbe-Hakodate route.

The transport ministry started talks with the Hokkaido government, JR Freight and JR Hokkaido last November about the section.

Although the rail industry has raised concerns about the closure of the route, the central government has never invested in preserving conventional lines parallel to Shinkansen lines.

It would be the first case if a decision is made to conserve the Oshamanbe-Hakodate section for exclusive use by freight trains. Even if such a decision is made, there would be tortuous negotiations among the parties on how to share operating costs.

Kunihiro Kishi, a traffic engineering professor at Hokkaido University, said a wider range of entities, aside from the four bodies, should work together on the issue.

“The concept of retaining tracks solely with local funds will prove useless for preserving a national railway network,” he said. “Beneficiary industries, local governments outside Hokkaido and other entities should play a part as well.”

The ministry-organized talks are expected to reach some sort of compromise to conserve the route, but the possibility remains that participants will be unable to reach an agreement on the shared problem.

The main points of discussions will be sorted out by the end of June.