Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Japan maglev train breaks world speed record again





A Japanese magnetic levitation train has broken its own world speed record, hitting 603km/h (374mph) in a test run near Mount Fuji.

The train beat the 590km/h speed it had set last week in another test.

Maglev trains use electrically charged magnets to lift and move carriages above the rail tracks.

Central Japan Railway (JR Central), which owns the trains, wants to introduce the service between Tokyo and the central city of Nagoya by 2027.

The 280km journey would take only about 40 minutes, less than half the current time.

However, passengers will not get to experience the maglev's record-breaking speeds because the company said its trains will operate at a maximum of 505km/h. In comparison, the fastest operating speed of a Japanese shinkansen, or "bullet train" is is 320km/h.

The company developing the maglev train is JR Tokai (JR 渡海) which has a testing facility in Yamanashi Prefecture south of Tokyo. JR Tokai developed Japan's first Shinkansen trains which began operating just prior to the start of the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games.

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