Central Japan Railway Co. announced yesterday that a maglev train reached a speed of 366 miles per hour, a new world record, during a test run test run on an experimental track in Yamanashi prefecture.
The previous record of 361 miles per hour had stood for 12 years before Thursday’s blistering run took over the throne.
Officials aren’t quite celebrating the new record because reports out of Japan are that another test run is scheduled for Tuesday of next week, where the train is expected to reach 373 miles per hour, making this new accomplishment short lived.
According to the train company, JR Central, the maglev was carrying 29 technicians on this week’s record-breaking run. Passengers need not worry, however, because they won’t be going 360+ mph when the train opens for business in 2027.
In fact, the maglev is expected to run at a max speed of 314 miles per hour per hour between Tokyo and Nagoya, which are 178 miles apart.
As someone who has ridden a bullet train in China, 314 mph is still extremely fast! Trust me.
If all goes well, look for the maglev technology to make it over to the United States sooner rather than later.
