Japanese Train Breaks World Speed Record

The world’s fastest train can now zip along at 373 miles per hour.

A Japanese maglev train reached that dizzying speed on a test track near Mount Fuji Tuesday, The Guardian reports. Nearly 50 railway employees were on the train at the time, and railway officials called the high-speed trip “comfortable” for human passengers. The mark sets a new world speed record, eclipsing the standing record of 367 mph, reached by the same train last week.

Maglev trains, short for “magnetic levitation,” hover just above the rails through the use of electric magnets.

Current commuter trains in Japan, already super-fast by global standards, travel at speeds of about 200 mph. The maglev train is scheduled to go into commercial operation by 2027, carrying passengers from Tokyo to Nagoya, a city 180 miles away, in about 40 minutes.

[The Guardian]

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