Japanese Railway JR Tokai to Build 400+ MPH Maglev Train System

NAGOYA December 26, 2007; Japan Today reported that Central Japan Railway Co (JR Tokai) said Tuesday it will build at its own expense a magnetically levitated train system between the Tokyo metropolitan area and the Chukyo region, with Nagoya at the center, at an estimated cost of 5.1 trillion yen. JR Tokai plans to begin operating the system in 2025.

A maglev train floats slightly above the guideway on a magnetic field. A three-car manned maglev train reached a top speed of 581 kilometers per hour, the highest speed ever recorded, during a test run conducted in 2003 by JR Tokai and the government-affiliated Railway Technical Research Institute.