The Nikkei reports that East Japan Railway Co. will team up with other Japanese firms, including Kawasaki Heavy Industries Ltd., Sumitomo Corp., Nippon Sharyo Ltd., Hitachi Ltd. and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. in bidding for a high-speed railway project in California.
The group will inform the California state government of its intention to participate in the project by March 16. California’s plan involves mixing existing rail lines and those for high-speed trains, so JR East will apply the technology of the so-called mini-bullet train that can run on both regular and high-speed rail lines. The technology is in use on the company’s Yamagata bullet train line.
Central Japan Railway Co., meanwhile, has formed a basic agreement with US construction engineering firm Fluor Corp. and the US arm of major UK builder Balfour Beatty Plc in a high-speed railway project in Texas. Eleven Japanese firms, including Mitsubishi Corp., Toshiba Corp. and the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, have decided to cooperate with JR Tokai.