Caroline Kennedy, U.S. ambassador to Japan, left, and Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, sit on board a magnetic levitation train, undergoing testing by Central Japan Railway Co. in April. Pool via Bloomberg News
TOKYO—The Japanese government approved Friday plans to build the world’s fastest train line, which will use magnetic levitation technology to race passengers from the capital, Tokyo, to the industrial hub of Nagoya at more than 300 miles an hour.
Central Japan Railway Co.
9022.TO -1.33% said the transport ministry cleared its plans to build a 178-mile line that would cut the Tokyo-Nagoya journey time to 40 minutes, less than half the current time of about 1 hour, 40 minutes.
JR Central hopes to complete the work by 2027, with an eventual onward link to Osaka.
The approval comes about two weeks after Japan celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening of the original Tokyo-Osaka bullet train line, the world’s first high-speed train.
The new line, if completed, will represent a further leap in railway development. Maglev technology uses powerful magnetic charges to move train cars that float several inches above a concrete guideway rather than riding on steel wheels.
Though a short maglev line has been operating in Shanghai since 2004, the Tokyo-Nagoya line is the first intercity link in the world to gain public approval.
Supporters of the new line say it is needed to relieve crowding on the original bullet train. They also hail it as a demonstration of Japan’s technological prowess at a time when Tokyo is looking to boost the nation’s train system exports.
Opponents have raised questions about the cost of the project, its environmental impact and whether it is needed. Most of the route will run through tunnels under some of Japan’s highest mountains.
JR Central puts the cost of the line to Nagoya at ¥5.5 trillion ($52 billion). It estimates the cost of the full Tokyo-Osaka line at around ¥9 trillion.
The train company said it hoped to begin construction next year. Daisuke Fujita, a spokesman for JR Central, said Friday that the company had not set a specific date, pending consultations with local authorities along the route.
The company says it can finance the cost of the Tokyo-Nagoya line on its own, relying on the cash flow generated by the Tokyo-Osaka bullet train.
Before granting its approval, the ministry conducted an environmental assessment, reviewed the financing plans and timetable and scrutinized JR Central’s technical capabilities.
JR Central has been running demonstrations of its maglev system on a test track near Tokyo.
The company wants to export the technology to the U.S. for a Washington-New York train link—a project Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said Japan would help finance.
http://online.wsj.com/articles/japan-gives-maglev-train-green-light-1413523690
. Try to avoid that trap. Still, unless one is partial to fast cars, joining space programs via simulating (now way a depressant's going to help) narcotics, or is actually going into space, few experiences can match the acceleration of trains such as these. It's going to be awesome. On a slightly related note, if I truly can't wait 10 years and don't plan any trips to China, I suppose I could achieve similar acceleration with the trebuchet I built with some friends for a physics class.
