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Japan: Maglev contractors formally charged in bid rigging

By  |  April 9, 2018

Prosecutors pressed charges against four of Japan’s biggest construction companies for allegedly colluding on bids for a showcase high-speed maglev train line connecting Tokyo and central Japan.

The Tokyo District Prosecutors Office announced in a statement it indicted Taisei Corp., Kajima Corp., Obayashi Corp. and Shimizu Corp., along with an executive each from Taisei and Kajima, for allegedly violating antitrust laws and sending them to court.

They said the builders coordinated bidding to ensure each won a similar share of contracts for the line, called the Linear Chuo Shinkansen.

The US$80 billion magnetic levitation, or maglev, railway between Tokyo and Nagoya is a decades-long project expected to reduce travel time between the two cities to 40 minutes from the current 100 minutes. It is expected to open in 2027 and the line is due to be eventually extended to Osaka in western Japan.

Full Content: Global Construction Review

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