Maehara may visit Florida in Jan. to pitch shinkansen train system+

WASHINGTON, Dec. 26 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara might visit Florida as part of his trip to the
United States in mid-January to urge the state to adopt Japan's shinkansen
system for its high-speed rail link project, several sources close to
Japan-U.S. relations said Sunday.
While Maehara is trying to meet with Rick Scott who is due to take office as
governor on Jan. 4, it is still not clear whether the planned project will go
forward because the governor-elect has not come out explicitly in favor of the
plan, the sources said.
Scott won the gubernatorial election on the strength of backing by the Tea
Party movement, which is against spending much taxpayer money on the new
railway project.
Maehara is considering making a stop in Florida during his trip to Washington
where he hopes to meet with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to promote
the shinkansen system as well as discuss the Japan-U.S. security alliance with
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
The plan being pushed by the Obama administration calls for inaugurating a
135-kilometer rail line between Tampa and Orlando at a cost of some $2.6
billion, or about 21 billion yen, in 2015 and then building another line
between Orlando and Miami.
The Japanese consortium faces stiff competition from Europe and China in its
bid for the Florida project.
==Kyodo
2010-12-26 22:25:22