Photo/Illutration A tunnel for the Chuo Shinkansen Line is shown to reporters in Kawasaki on Jan. 15. (Wataru Sekita)

KAWASAKI--A section of a tunnel for a magnetic-levitation bullet train service that is under construction 90 meters below ground was shown to the media on Jan. 15.

The Chuo Shinkansen Line, which is scheduled to link Tokyo and Nagoya in or after 2027, will run more than 40 meters below ground in urban areas.

This was the first time that Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai), which is building the maglev line, allowed reporters to visit a tunnel being bored at this depth.

In Kawasaki’s Asao Ward, journalists were taken to a 133-meter section of the 37-kilometer Metropolitan Area Tunnel No. 1 that will connect Shinagawa Station in Tokyo, the starting point of the new line, and the tentatively named Kanagawa Prefecture Station in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture.

The tunnel has a diameter of about 14 meters and is being bored by a shield machine, a type of excavation equipment.

Each time 1.6 meters has been excavated, workers assemble a ring-shaped concrete wall more than 50 centimeters thick and connect it to the previous ring.

While it was said that construction work more than 40 meters below ground would have no impact on the surface, a cave-in occurred in 2020, collapsing a road in a residential area in Chofu, western Tokyo, during construction of an underground tunnel for the Tokyo outer ring road.

JR Tokai said the excavation work is designed to investigate its potential impact.

The company said it has conducted leveling and noise surveys of the ground, but no effect has been confirmed.

JR Tokai plans to start tunneling work on a full scale in September after installing soundproofing equipment and conveyor belts to remove earth and sand.

A representative said that the company will explain its construction work to local residents through meetings and other means to dispel possible concerns.

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