On August 22, the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) opened to the press an audit and inspection of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line extension (Kanazawa to Tsuruga), which is under construction with the aim of opening in spring 2024. The first time the audits and inspections, which are the preliminary stage of the actual running of the line, were made public to the press.
Overview of the section to be opened The section currently under construction is approximately 125 km long between Kanazawa and Tsuruga. This section of the line will have six stations: Komatsu, Kaga Onsen, Ashihara Onsen, Fukui, Echizen Takefu, and Tsuruga, starting from Takasaki, the starting point of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line. The Hokuriku Shinkansen is defined as a route from Tokyo to Osaka City via Nagano City, Toyama City, and Obama City. The Hokuriku Shinkansen as a line extends approximately 600 km from Takasaki to Shin-Osaka, and when the section from Takasaki to Tsuruga opens in the spring of 2024, approximately 78% of the entire planned Hokuriku Shinkansen line will be in service.
Relationship between Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency and JR West The construction of the Shinkansen is an infrastructure project that can be considered a big national project. The Shinkansen lines that have been constructed (or are being constructed) since the construction freeze was lifted, with the exception of the Chuo Shinkansen, which is currently under construction, are constructed and owned by the JRTT Railway and Transportation Agency, which is the construction company, and the JR companies, which are the operating companies (JR West in the case of the section to be opened this time), lease the facilities from the Railway and Transportation Agency by paying a fixed loan fee to the JRTT. The JRTT owns the construction and operation of the facilities, and the JR companies (JR West in the case of the section to be opened this time) lease the facilities and operate them by paying a set amount of loan fees to the JRTT. Therefore, when the management is finally handed over to JR-West, the relationship between JR-West and the NTA is like that of “landlord” and “tenant”.
The purpose of the audit/inspection The press release shows the audit/inspection. The safe and reliable operation of railroads is made possible by the functioning of a total system that includes hardware, such as facilities and rolling stock, and software, such as the operation system and sales management system. For this purpose, it is necessary to confirm that the facilities conform to the required standards and fulfill the functions and quality as ordered. Without audits and inspections, it is impossible to run actual trains, and the implementation of audits and inspections establishes the basis for the possibility of running actual trains. The difference between audits and inspections is that the head office of the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency (JRTT) is in a supervisory position and “audits” the work performed by the local organization (Hokuriku Shinkansen Construction Bureau). On the other hand, JR-West, which will be the main operator, is in the position of renting the facilities as mentioned in the previous section, and will “inspect” whether there are any problems with the operations using the new line.
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