Senior lawmakers from the ruling and opposition camps said Feb. 15 they will form a bipartisan group possibly in March to push for construction of an undersea railroad tunnel between Japan and South Korea, inviting all Diet members to join.

The envisaged 128-km tunnel would be part of a roughly 230-km railway linking Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, and Busan through Japan's Iki and Tsushima islands, said the lawmakers gathering for an organizing committee meeting.

If realized, the tunnel would help boost the economy by linking Tokyo and London by rail.