East Japan Railway Co. is considering opening a new line to Haneda airport from the center of the capital, a project that would halve travel time to roughly 20 minutes from Tokyo and Shinjuku stations, company officials said Tuesday.

JR East hopes to have the new line partially operational in time for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and complete the roughly ¥320 billion project in the mid-2020s. To accomplish this, the regional train operator plans to consult with the national and Tokyo Metropolitan governments about how to pay for the project, according to company officials.

JR East is considering extending a freight line that now runs southward to the bay from near Tamachi Station on the Yamanote Line and connecting it to Haneda through a 5.7-km underwater tunnel, according to the officials.

On Tuesday, a JR East official briefed a meeting of a transport ministry panel studying the nation's future railway networks on the plan.