New bullet train line: high-caliber competition for air carriers

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See you on March 14: JR East's Tetsuro Tomita, left, and JR West Director Akihiro Horisaka set the date for the start of service.

TOKYO -- Two Japanese railway operators said Wednesday they will start service on a long-awaited extension of the nation's bullet train network next March, a change that will reshape travel from the capital to an area now served mostly by planes.

     East Japan Railway and West Japan Railway's Hokuriku Shinkansen will shorten the train ride between Tokyo and Kanazawa, a city on the opposite side of Japan, by more than an hour. JR East and JR West will jointly operate the new line.

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