Japan’s Magnetic Levitation bullet train has broken the 12 year old speed record of 581 km/h by setting a new record of 590 km/h.
The “Maglev” bullet train owned by Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central) has set a new world record on Thursday by hitting a speed of 590 kilometers per hour which is as good as 366 mph. Actually the new world record was set during a test ride which was conducted on a test course that was built at Yamanashi prefecture in central Japan. The last record set by this train was some 12 years back in December 2003 and the then speed set was 581 kilometers per hour.
A spokes person for JR Central further informed The Wall Street Journal that the train is due for its next test ride on Tuesday and it is expected to cross the new world record by hitting a speed of 600 kilometers per hour!!
It must be wonderful to travel at such an astounding speed isn’t it? However, how can a train attain such high speed. Actually here the train does not run on the tracks directly and in fact it uses a “contact-less theory” wherein the train is suspended above the guide-way with the help of powerful  “Magnetic Levitation” hence the abbreviation “Maglev.” Due to the lack of friction the train is able to attain such a high speed.
The test ride was conducted to check the performance of the train and it had some 29 technicians aboard during the test. At present the tracks for Maglev train runs between two cities of Tokyo, Uenohara and Fuefuki however JR Company has plans to develop it further so as to connect Tokyo to Nagoya by 2027. The total travel time that Maglev bullet train would take to cover this distance is expected to be only 40 minutes which is almost half as compared to the time taken today by the shinkansen bullet trains.
Japanese government has already got the approval for the construction of the tracks for this fastest bullet train. However, the Maglev bullet train is expected to be opened to public only in 2027 and the maximum speed of the train would be limited to 505 kilometers per hour.
JR Central also added that it wants to export the “Maglev technology” to U.S. for its Washington-New York train link and it has got consent from Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for the same , Mr Abe has further promised JR Company to help with finance in this project.
As compared to the train speeds elsewhere in the world, the Maglev’s speed is quite amazing. As per a report published last year the top speed of trains in U.S. till date is 240 km/h and in Australia it is 160 km/h. On the other hand, China is developing a Maglev train inside a near-vacuum space which could travel at a breathtaking speed of 2900 km/h since there will be literally no air resistance due to vacuum! Also group of Americans super savvy engineers are trying to build a train which would travel at a speed of 1,200 km/h. However, things are still under developmental stages.
With such huge technological changes happening in trains the day is not far when people will prefer to travel in “Super Fast trains” rather than the planes!!!
