JR West mulls train line extension to Yumeshima

West Japan Railway Company (JR West) has included the possibility of an extension of the Osaka Yumesaki Line beyond its current terminus at Sakurajima Station to Yumeshima, the proposed site for a major urban IR, in its Medium-Term Management Plan (2018-2022), published in late April.

JR West President Tatsuo Kijima explained to the local media, “If Yumeshima becomes the site for an IR, then it will be important from the point of view of traffic access that the (Yumesaki) Line be extended.”

The tentative estimated cost of carrying out the extension was estimated as being 170 billion yen (about US$1.6 billion).

There are two other possible railway extensions being considered in relation to the Yumeshima site. The recently-privatized Osaka Metro Chuo Line might be extended to Yumeshima from its current terminus at Cosmo Square Station on neighboring Sakishima island, and Keihan Electric Railway’s Nakanoshima Line might also be extended, providing a link to Japan’s ancient capital of Kyoto.

Cost-sharing schemes with IR operators remain a pending issue.

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