Takeo Onsen Station and Nagasaki Main Sasebo

highly anticipated: The panel is considering the idea in discussions for final adjustments to the plans, which began on Feb. 23, for the highly anticipated line, according to Asahi Shimbun. Initial plans were for the FGT, the nation first variable gauge railcar, to run on both the Shinkansen rails and JR Kyushu regular Nagasaki Main and Sasebo lines, which the new route will be using between Shin-Tosu Station in Tosu, Saga Prefecture, and Takeo Onsen Station in Takeo, also in the prefecture. A panel of members from the ruling political parties to discuss the opening of the high-speed train line is considering dropping plans for the FGT, which would be able to run on both wider Shinkansen rails and narrower tracks of regular lines, in favor of using the relay method of running both high-speed and regular trains so that it can open as scheduled in fiscal 2022. However, development of the vehicle is lagging significantly. In addition, disagreements between the policies of the prefectural governments of Nagasaki and Saga, both of which will be hosting the new train line, are further complicating matters. The transport ministry said in December that opening the new Shinkansen line using the FGT as planned in fiscal 2022 would be very difficult, as efforts to patch up the prototype that was damaged during endurance testing were taking considerable time. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.