JR Central held the “Sagamihara Linear Festa 2026” on October 24–25 at the construction site for the Kanagawa Prefecture Station (tentative name) of the Linear Chuo Shinkansen. On the day of the event, a section of the third basement level—the track level (which will house the main line, siding, and platforms of the Chuo Maglev Line)—was opened to the public for the first time.
The Linear Chuo Shinkansen is an ultra-high-speed rail line capable of traveling from Shinagawa to Nagoya in as little as 40 minutes. This means the journey, which currently takes 86 minutes on the Tokaido Shinkansen, will be completed in about half the time. In addition, intermediate stations are planned for Kanagawa, Yamanashi, Nagano, and Gifu Prefectures, and development around these new stations is expected. While most of these intermediate stations are scheduled to be above-ground (elevated) stations, construction is currently underway on the Kanagawa Prefecture station as an underground station.
Kanagawa Prefectural Station is a large-scale, three-level underground structure centered on the site of the former Aihara Prefectural High School, where it intersects with National Route 16. A distinctive feature of the station is that the majority of the station area was constructed using the cut-and-cover method (a construction technique involving excavation from the ground surface). The section intersecting National Route 16 was constructed using the non-cut-and-cover tunnel method (a method involving excavation underground in a tunnel-like structure).
Incidentally, at the eastern end of the station, the shield machine for the First Metropolitan Tunnel—coming from the Shinagawa direction—is scheduled to arrive, while at the western end, the shield machine for the Second Metropolitan Tunnel is scheduled to depart toward Yamanashi.
The underground structure is a large-scale facility, with the station area extending approximately 680 meters in length, a maximum width of approximately 50 meters, and a depth of approximately 30 meters. The track level, located on the third underground floor, will feature two platforms and four tracks (main and siding tracks).
My impression upon descending to the third basement level was that I was inside a giant concrete box. There are openings in several places leading to the platforms and sidings, and the maximum width reaches approximately 50 meters.
Two types of open-cut construction methods are being used for the station construction. In areas with adjacent structures or in narrow yards, the standard method is to construct retaining walls from the ground up. In areas without adjacent structures and where the yard is spacious, excavation is performed on the slope, and retaining walls are then constructed underground. This method offers the advantage of providing ample space, making it easier to construct the station structures. Incidentally, the excavated soil and gravel are temporarily stockpiled on-site as fill material and will be backfilled after the station structures are completed.
On the day of the event, local elementary school students and visitors who had passed the advance lottery were able to tour the third basement level. The participating elementary school students colored in Maglev-themed coloring pages, took photos at photo spots, wrote messages on the walls, and received an explanation about the Kanagawa Prefecture Station. The tour was attended by Kanagawa Governor Yuji Kuroiwa, Sagamihara Mayor Kentaro Motomura, and JR Central Executive Vice President Takanori Mizuno. When Governor Kuroiwa told the elementary school students, “A Maglev station will be built right here,” they responded with excited cries of, “We can’t wait to ride it!”
© Source travel watch