JAPAN MAGLEV CONTRACTORS CHARGED WITH BID RIGGING

Prosecutors pressed charges Friday 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 said 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 anti-trust 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 $80 billion magnetic levitation, or maglev, railway between Tokyo and Nagoya is a decades-long project expected to open in 2027.