MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF SEIKAN TUNNEL

Abstract

 The Seikan Tunnel is a long undersea tunnel connecting Honshu and Hokkaido. Excavation of the tunnel began in 1964 and was put into service 24 years later in 1988. Since 2016, this line has been running on a three-track gauge, which is rare in the world, and has been running on the Shinkansen and conventional lines. Even now, 35 years after its opening, the Seikan Tunnel is still used as an important trunk line connecting Honshu and Hokkaido. In this paper, we describe the maintenance and management of the Seikan Tunnel.