Japan Is Building The Fastest Train On Earth
REUTERS/Yuriko NakaoThe first prototype of the Tokai was developed in 2004. It took ten years to bring it to reality.
Japan is launching a new super-fast train, the JR Tokai.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the new train will be able to carry commuters from Tokyo to Nagoya at blinding speed of 300 mph thanks to magnetic levitation technology. The plan was approved on Friday by the Japanese government, the WSJ said.
The new line, which stretches 180 miles, will only take 40 minutes to get from the two, shaving an hour off the the journey via the Shinkansen, the world-famous bullet train that travels at 200 mph.
Business InsiderOn its travel from Tokyo to Nagoya, the Tokai train will pass beside Japan's national mountain, the Mount Fuji.
The Shinkansen celebrated 50 years in operation just a couple of weeks ago, but it is set to be replaced by its younger competitor.
Maglev, the technology behind this engineering mastercraft, uses a magnetic charge to lift the train in the air several inches above a guideway of concrete, enabling convoys to move without friction. The new line is the first intercity railway of its kind, although a short metropolitan link has been functioning in Shangai since 2004.
A similar infrastructure has also been tested in Germany.
The builder and operator will be Central Japan Railway Co, which hopes to conclude the work by 2027, while a further link to Osaka is already on the plan for 2045. The Shinkansen train is also operated by Central Japan.
AP Photo/Koji SasaharaUS Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy and the Japanese PM Shinzo Abe inspected a test plant for the new train in April.
Speaking with The Japan Time, the company's CEO said that they are committed to speaking with local authorities in order to cause as little trouble as possible for the residents along the lines.
The company also told the WSJ that they will be able to finance the construction of the Tokyo-Nagoya line on their own, putting the cost at ¥5.5 trillion, approximately $5o billion.
Tokai is a Japanese word that means East Sea, and is also the name of the
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