Which rail tunnel connects Japan's islands of Honshu and Hokkaido?
Answer
Seikan Tunnel
Which rail tunnel connects Japan's islands of Honshu and Hokkaido? The answer is the Seikan Tunnel.
The Seikan Tunnel runs beneath the Tsugaru Strait between Aomori Prefecture on Honshu and Hokkaido. Opened on 13 March 1988, it is 53.85 kilometres long, including a 23.3-kilometre section beneath the seabed. It was built as a railway tunnel to provide a dependable all-weather link between Japan's two largest islands.
The project followed decades of planning and difficult underwater investigation. Engineers constructed a pilot tunnel and service facilities before completing the main tunnel. The tunnel originally carried conventional trains and freight; since 2016, it has also accommodated the Hokkaido Shinkansen using dual-gauge track.
The Seikan Tunnel is sometimes confused with the Kanmon Tunnel, which connects Honshu and Kyushu. Daishimizu Tunnel is an inland railway tunnel on Honshu, while Sakhalin Tunnel is a separate, unfinished project. Although the Seikan Tunnel is longer overall than the Channel Tunnel, the Channel Tunnel has the longer submerged section.