West Japan Railway (JR West) is to seek billions of yen in compensation from contractors that built tunnels on the Sanyo Shinkansen line, Japan’s high speed "bullet" train. The line has been plagued by problems with spalling concrete.
Inspections carried out last year showed that many tunnels along the line suffered from cold jointing, where one layer of concrete was allowed to cure before the next was formed. In all, 142 tunnels between Hiroshima station and Fukuoka’s Hakata station were inspected.
The checks followed several incidents where chunks of concrete fell from tunnel walls. In the most serious incident falling concrete ripped a 12 m gash in the roof of a Shinkansen train travelling about 240 kmph, although nobody was hurt.
JR West’s decided to seek compensation after advice from a committee of experts which declared general contractors financially responsible for defects. The railway operator plans to negotiate with contractors rather than sue.
