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Yamanashi Maglev Test Track, Japan
By Nick on September 27, 2008
I live in Japan, and one of the greatest pleasures living here is riding the bullet train. I don’t do it often, but traveling at over 200km/h as you wind your way through Japan’s mountains is an incredible thrill, even though it’s smoother than riding in a passenger car.
The bullet train just isn’t fast enough
It takes around 3 hours to travel the 550 kilometers between Tokyo and Osaka on a bullet train, and although that’s incredibly quick, it’s not fast enough for many of Japan’s cross-country commuters.
That’s why engineers at the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line are working away on perfecting a 500km/h super-fast maglev train – one that floats on magnets as it speeds along the 42.8 kilometer track, most of which is hidden in tunnels through the mountains around Mount Fuji.
The train itself, which boasts a top speed of 581km/h, looks stunning…
… but not nearly as impressive as it looks when it’s flying along at breakneck speed. Here’s a short video documentary about the Yamanashi Test Line and the maglev:
I hope one day I have the fortune to travel on one of these trains, but for something that’s not exactly necessary, I wonder whether the Japanese public will be willing to foot the bill for such an enormous project. There has been great dissatisfaction over how public funds have been spent on unprofitable construction works such as bridges, highways and airports, so we may never see the maglev spanning Japan as the current bullet train does.
Learn more about Yamanashi and maglev trains:
- Yamanashi Maglev photos – great pics!
- Yamanashi Maglev Test Line in Google Maps
- JR-Maglev on WIkipedia
- Google Earth discussion about the test line’s location
Posted in Asia | 5 Comments
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5 Responses to “Yamanashi Maglev Test Track, Japan”
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Mark Ramsay, globetrotting from an armchair in England.
6:38 pm on September 30th, 2008
Very impressive train, Nick, but I would be too frightened to travel on it.
5:59 am on October 3rd, 2008
Wow what an amazing post, I remember when I went on the Shik-Kazanspeed bullet train it was amazing we went from Nagoya to Hiroshima and it did not take us as long to get there as it did coming back on the normal trains in the end didn’t we get back on the speed bullet train again. I wish I could go back on it again. Briliant post.
10:46 am on October 3rd, 2008
LOL, I think you mean “Shinkansen”, Mark, but you are right – it only takes 2.5 to 3 hours to Hiroshima by Shinkansen, 7 hours by highway bus, and if we had stayed on that local “stop everywhere” train coming back, probably 12 hours!
12:33 pm on February 26th, 2009
I would like to kmow how to purches a tickit. Have some vac. coming up and I would love to travle to Japan and ride the bullit. How much does it coast?
1:45 pm on February 26th, 2009
Depends where you want to go. It’s about $100 from Tokyo to Nagoya.