The government is poised to offer ¥3 trillion ($29.6 billion) in loans to Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) in an attempt to expedite high-speed maglev services between Tokyo and Osaka by up to eight years, government sources said.

Under the plan — which involves amending the law to legalize such loans — the government will lend ¥1.5 trillion in both fiscal 2016 and 2017 from the fiscal investment and loan program to private JR Tokai, which was building the magnetically levitated train system with its own money for launch in 2045.

The FILP program, also known as "zaito" and dubbed the nation's second budget, is intended to supply long-term, low-interest loans for projects that are highly public and for which private companies cannot easily secure sufficient funds. JR Tokai was intentionally building the maglev with its own money to ensure it retains independence from state control.