The central government has decided to start construction work on three sections of three planned Shinkansen bullet train lines — the Shin Hakodate-Sapporo section of the Hokkaido Shinkansen Line, the Kanazawa-Tsuruga section of the Hokuriku Shinkansen Line and the Isahaya-Nagasaki section of the Kyushu-Nagasaki Shinkansen Line. The construction of the new Shinkansen sections, whose total cost is estimated at ¥3.01 trillion, could cause problems for the central government, local governments concerned and local residents.
Since the central government and local governments along the planned Shinkansen lines cannot attain tax revenues large enough to cover the construction costs, the government decided to siphon the fees Japan Railway companies pay to the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency for use of Shinkansen tracks owned by the agency.
In an attempt to lower the annual financial burden from construction, it was also decided to prolong the construction period from the originally planned 10 years up to 24 years.