Track construction begins for Taiwan Shinkansen

Nippon Express has received an order for track construction work for the "Taiwan Shinkansen" (bullet train) from a seven-company alliance - including such companies as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Toshiba, and Kawasaki Heavy Industries - known as the Taiwan Shinkansen Trackwork Joint Venture. In this connection, Nippon Express registered and opened a Construction Office in Taiwan in November 2003, and this Office has been completing all procedures required by local law and making other preparations for the construction work. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 8, marking the commencement of Nippon Express' full-scale participation in the Taiwan Shinkansen track construction project.

The Taiwan Shinkansen will be Taiwan's first high-speed railway, spanning a total distance of 345km between Taipei and Kaohsiung, and Nippon Express has been involved since 2001 in supporting construction work: the Kanto Heavy Haulage & Construction Branch along with other domestic branches such as the Tokyo International Transport Branch and the Yokohama International Transport Branch have been working with Nippon Express (Taiwan) Co., Ltd., our local subsidiary in Taiwan, in the through international transport of construction materials from Japan to Taiwan. The construction project has been divided into five zones - Zones 1 through 5, starting from Taipei - and Nippon Express' track construction efforts will be in Zone 2, which extends about 93km. Construction is scheduled to last one year, and the Nippon Express Group will ordinarily have around 50 personnel - about 20 posted from Japan together with personnel from Nippon Express Taiwan - engaged in the project.

Building on its outstanding record of performance in Shinkansen-related construction and transport operations in Japan, Nippon Express will be utilizing sophisticated approaches in its construction and transport operations toward the start-up of the Taiwan Shinkansen.