Trains in Japan- they want to be running 310 mph by 2025

[ColbertWatcher]

From the Los Angeles Times
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
Japan: Blurring the line between bullets and trains
It's not enough that trains run on time in Japan -- they've got to break land records. In 2025, the country plans to be traveling by rail at 310 mph.
By John M. Glionna
March 24, 2009

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.

This is a nation where it's not nearly enough that the trains run on time -- they've got to break land records. And even that's not enough.

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.

Developed for use during the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, the Shinkansen trains were the brainchild of Hideo Shima, a government engineer who died a decade ago at the age of 96. Over the years, the trains have signaled Japanese prosperity, a gauge of just how far this technology-crazed culture has come and where it's headed.

Designed to traverse Japan's mountainous terrain, the trains use tunnels and viaducts to go through and over obstacles rather than around them. They travel on elevated tracks without road crossings and apart from conventional rail. An automated control system eliminates the need for signals.

(more)

--Los Angeles Times

[ddeclue]

1. Isn't the French mag-lev train already running that fast? nt

[onehandle]

2. I took the Eurostar from London to Paris and back last year. It was fast.

But not nearly that fast.

It was quiet and smooth. Or maybe that was just in First Class. :)

I cannot imagine a ride at 310 mph.

[Ron Green]

3. We can do this, too. All we need is Political Will.

Trains!

[ColbertWatcher]

5. Yup. n/t

[geckosfeet]

4. Trains in US - they still want to be running next week.