Need For Speed: Japanese train breaks the 600km/hr mark

A new train world speed record has been set after Japan’s fastest magnetically levitated train, known as the maglev bullet train, reached a speed of 603 kilometres per hour (374mph) on a test run near Mount Fuji.
Operator JR Central said the train reached 603 kilometers per hour (375 miles per hour) in a test run on Tuesday, surpassing its previous record of 361 mph (581 kph) set in 2003. The train traveled for just over a mile (1.8 kilometers) at a speed exceeding 600 kph (373 mph).
The Maglev Test Line, near Mount Fuji about 50 miles west of Tokyo, is developing technology for use on a future 250-mile link that will reduce travel time between Tokyo and Osaka to just over an hour. The current minimum by bullet train is nearly three hours.
The levitation of the train means it can reach such high speeds because it has no contact with the ground and is not slowed by friction.
The company is looking to introduce this new high-speed train in 2027 on services connecting the cities of Tokyo and Nagoya. The distance between the two cities is 280km, but would take only 40 minutes on the high-speed maglev – less than half of the current journey on Japan’s shinkansen bullet trains.