Japan's Bullet Trains to Top 310 MPH by 2025

High speed train technology is progressing at a rapid pace in Japan, where mag-lev bullet trains are planned to travel at speeds of more than 310 miles per hour by the year 2025.

1 minute read

March 25, 2009, 3:00 AM PDT

By Nate Berg


"From Nagoya to Tokyo, the scenery whizzes past in a dizzying blur as the sleek engine with its bullet-like nose floats the cars along elevated tracks -- without the clickety-clack of the lumbering U.S. trains that make you feel as though you're chugging along like cattle to market."

"These days, Californians dream of a future with high-speed elevated rails that would link Southern California and Las Vegas in less than two hours, or L.A. and San Francisco in just over 2 1/2 ."

"Japan, meanwhile, will soon have a class of train that could make the trips in less than half those times."

"By 2025, a network of bullet trains connecting major cities is to feature magnetically levitated, or maglev, linear motor trains running at speeds of more than 310 mph."

Tuesday, March 24, 2009 in Los Angeles Times

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