[BTinSF]

FEBRUARY 16, 2010, 10:00 A.M. ET
JR Central Chairman Aims to Bring Shinkansen to U.S.
By MARIKO SANCHANTA And YOSHIO TAKAHASHI

TOKYO—The chairman of Central Japan Railway Co. said the company is aiming to work with U.S. companies such as General Electric Co., as part of an aggressive bid to see its platypus-billed shinkansen whiz its way through the state of Florida . . . .

"we would make the cars in America and operate a factory in Florida," said Mr. Kasai. "We could partner with American firms, such as General Electric, and engage in technology transfers—these would be 50-50 joint ventures ' . . . .

Mr. Kasai is vying to export the N700I version of the Japanese shinkansen to the U.S. If his bid is successful, it would mark the first time its total system—including the track, rolling stock, signal equipment and railway management systems—would be used outside of Japan.



Mr. Kasai said he wants to do so in the spirit of what could be called shinkansen diplomacy, or fostering better ties between two nations due to technology transfers and joint infrastructure development projects. "Japan and the U.S. should pursue a free trade agreement or an economic partnership agreement—people should be able to move freely between both countries," said Mr. Kasai. "As a private company we want to improve U.S.-Japan relations."

A big U.S. contract could also be good for the firm's bottom line. The shinkansen remains one of Japan's enduring technological icons and is renowned for its punctuality—trains arrive to the minute—and its efficiency. JR Central's high speed connection between Tokyo and Osaka is one of the few profitable train routes anywhere in the world, and accounts for 80% of the company's revenue . . . .

Mr. Kasai said that close to a dozen firms in Japan would benefit if JR Central won the bid to build its bullet train in Florida, including Nippon Steel Corp., Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd., Hitachi Ltd., Nippon Sharyo Ltd., which makes rolling stock, Toshiba Corp. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. . . .

JR Central is marketing two types of trains in the U.S.: the shinkansen, which travels as fast as 330 kilometers per hour; and the magnetic-levitation, or maglev, train, which can run up to 581 kph, but is more expensive and in only limited use so far. JR Central has already spent more than $1 billion developing the technology behind it.

Mr. Kasai said a maglev link between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., would result in a journey between the two cities of less than 10 minutes. But the cost to construct the line would be exorbitant, totaling several of billions of dollars . . . .

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...myyahoo_module