Japan's Maglev Train Breaks World Speed Record, Again
TOKYO — A
state-of-the-art Japanese train broke its own world speed record when it
topped out at 374 miles per hour early Tuesday in a test run near Mount
Fuji.
Central Japan Railway confirmed that the seven car Maglev — short for magnetic levitation — had beaten the 366 mph record it set last week. The previous record of 268 mph had been held since 2003.
The company said the
purpose of the record-breaking run was to test the safety of the trains,
which hover around four inches above the tracks and are propelled by
electrically-charged magnets.
"Both the car and the
track is designed for commercial use and I believe both the level of
comfort and safety has improved," the director at the testing facility
Yasukazu Endo told reporters after the test run.
However, he said future
passengers won't necessarily get a chance to travel as fast as the
Maglev did on Monday. The company has said trains with passengers on
board are expected to travel at around 313 mph.
The company plans to
have a Maglev running between Tokyo and the central city Nagoya by 2027.
The train is expected to complete the journey in just 40 minutes, less
than half the time taken by the shinkansen bullet trains currently in
service.
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