The Hokuriku Shinkansen extension from Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture to Shin-Osaka is now expected to open in 2050 or later, the transport ministry indicated at a committee meeting in Tokyo on the 6th.
The ministry convened a subcommittee to examine the profitability and investment effects of the line, one of five basic conditions that must be confirmed before construction can begin.
The ministry plans to hear from West Japan Railway and compile an interim report by the end of the year.
Route settled in July
The ruling parties agreed in July on the so-called Obama-Kyoto route, which runs near JR Katsura Station in Kyoto. The decision ended years of dispute over the alignment but left the financing and the timetable unresolved.
The extension would link the line's current terminus at Tsuruga with Shin-Osaka, completing a through route from Tokyo along the Sea of Japan coast. The opening date now under discussion falls roughly two decades beyond the 2030s target once attached to the project.