World’s Fastest Train Runs Into Trouble

It was destined to slash journey times as the world’s fast bullet train hovered commuters to their homes and offices at dazzling speed.

However, construction of Japan’s Chūō Shinkansen rail line has come to halt amid objections over its impact on those who live nearby.

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Chūō Shinkansen will connect the nation’s capital to the southeastern cities of Nagoya and Osaka.

The Shinkansen network of railway lines already connects most of the country via high-speed “bullet” trains. Once the initial line is completed, passengers will be able to travel between Tokyo and Nagoya in just 40 minutes, halving the journey’s current 90-minute duration.

The full track will stretch further west to Osaka, cutting the travel time from Tokyo to the port city down from over three hours to just 67 minutes.

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Running along the over-300 mile track will be superconducting maglev trains, developed by the Central Japan Railway Company and the Railway Technical Research Institute. Maglev – or magnetic levitation – trains utilize superconducting magnets fitted on both the train and the track to reduce friction, allowing for both faster speeds and smoother rides compared to conventional high-speed trains.

In 2015, the JR maglev broke the world record for the fastest train, reaching a top speed of 374 miles per hour during a test run near Mount Fuji.

Once open to the public, the trains will travel at a maximum speed of around 310 miles per hour.

This would make those hovering along the the Chūō Shinkansen the world’s fastest public trains, beating out the current record holder – the Shanghai Maglev – by nearly 30 miles per hour.

The Japanese government granted permission to the Central Japan Railway Company for the project in May 2011.

Construction of Chūō Shinkansen, which commenced in 2014, is expected to cost over ¥9 trillion, or $56 billion.

Given that the length of rail currently connecting Tokyo to Osaka is some 300 miles long, this works out at roughly $187 million per mile of track.

The first stretch connecting Tokyo to Nagoya was initially scheduled for completion in 2027.

However, in March, the president of JR Central announced that the company no longer expects to hit this target.

Speaking after a meeting in the Japanese transport ministry, Shunsuke Niwa said: “Moreover, we cannot estimate a new starting year because we have no idea when we can begin work on tunnel construction within Shizuoka Prefecture.”

In 2019, the governor of Shizuoka, a region through which a 6-mile section of the track would have to pass, expressed objections to its construction, and has since refused to grant any permission for its developers to begin construction.

Governor Heita Kawakatsu’s opposition stemmed from concerns that drilling parts of the track would lead to leaks from the Oi River, reducing the amount of water available to the prefecture’s 700,000 residents.

Newsweek has contacted the Shizuoko prefecture for further comments on the impact of the Chūō Shinkansen line.

In May, Kawakatsu submitted an early letter of resignation, after making comments about certain professions which some deemed discriminatory.

His departure may lead to some headway being made on the development of the high-speed railway.

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