The Japanese Maglev train breaks the world speed record at 590 Kilometers per hour and becomes the World’s Fastest Train.
The magnetic levitation bullet train hit 366 miles per hour on Thursday and broke the previous speed record set by the company twelve years ago.
The speed test was carried out at a specially constructed site at Yamanashi prefecture in central Japan.
A spokeswoman for the Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Central) said the new record which broke the previous one by nine kilometers per hour, could be broken again.
She expects the train to break the 600 Km/h barrier on Tuesday.
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Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is set to talk up Japan’s train prowess on a visit to the U.S. starting April 26. Mr. Abe’s trip includes a stop in California, which is planning a high-speed rail line.
JR Central has said it wants to export the maglev technology to the U.S. for a Washington-New York train link—a project Mr. Abe has said Japan would help finance.
According to JR Central, the test run was conducted to check the performance of the cars and had 29 technicians aboard. Passengers won’t experience the record-breaking speed even after the line opens for business, which is supposed to happen in 2027. The company has projected that the trains will operate at a maximum speed of 505 kilometers per hour.
The Japanese government in October approved the construction of what will be the world’s fastest train line, which will connect Tokyo and Nagoya in about 40 minutes, less than half the time that the shinkansen bullet trains require today.
Maglev trains are a “contactless transportation system,” which uses magnetic charge to lift and move the train cars above a guideway.
Same Maglev train model being tested at Yamanashi last year.
