Japan is the land of the rising sun and is also known for some very bizarre inventions. However, do not let their weird gadgets fool you into thinking that they are not busy developing some really cool stuff as well. Central Japan Railway Company has recently tested the high-speed maglev train and has managed to set records and then break them in the very same week. The test train was able to crank up to the speed of 603 km/h on Tuesday at the Yamanashi test track located in west of Tokyo at the foothills of Mount Fuji.
About five days earlier, on the same track, the train was able to set the record of a top speed of 590 km/h. The previous Guinness Book of World Records speed for a manned train was held by the same train at a speed of 581 km/h. This record was held for a couple of years as well. As per railway, the train managed to stay over 600 km/h for about 10.8 seconds and covered 1.8km during this time span.
The company told that the Yamanashi maglev test line became operational back in 1997 and during the last 18 years has been extended and improved with test vehicles covering more than 1.2 million km of test runs on this track.
For the Tuesday’s record breaking run, railway workers were aboard the train. Last year, the train had 100 train-fans from public who took part in the test run on the maglev line at speed of 500 km/h. The maglev system will be ready for commercial users between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNleI1eHzi0
