Japan Maglev economics

[cteno4]

Very nice hard econ article on the Japanese maglev in light of economics and fiscal policies. done a quick reed, but it needs a longer one to soak it in.

 

from chris hood on jtrains yahoo group

 

http://apjjf.org/2017/12/Aoki.html

 

cheers

 

jeff

[railsquid]

I suspect the short version of the executive summary involves a reference to a tubular container made of wooden planks containing porcine meat products.

[kvp]

The article states that the maglev line would cost 5 times as much as the Tokaido shinkansen to operate, way more than that to construct and would not be profitable according to JR Central. Also it would kill the profitability of the Tokaido shinkansen route, bringing JRC deep into the red as most of their loss making routes are financed from the shinkansen profits. It is also stated that only 4 big national projects suceeded so far with high profitability: the Tokaido shinkansen, the two large national highway projects and the Kurobe dam.

 

What i understand is that the writer speculates that if they build the line it will strain the japanese economy, overload the power grid and kill the Tokaido shinkansen. The reason is that the technology is still not cheap enough to be profitable.

[Khaul]

JR Central has been always saying that the Chuo Shinkansen will be profitable and they showed willingness to fund it with its own resources. They even started construction in earnest without government support. I am not sure what the government is throwing in the project, guaranteed loans maybe? Other sources say maglevs are much cheaper to operate than conventional high speed rail. All in all it is hard to find out who may be right.