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Around The World

Japan

Japan has a large number of high speed trains. They hold the world record for speed of any train with the MLX01, known as the "Bullet Train". Japan is one the elite leading countries in Mag lev technology, innovation, and design. Look forward to seeing more Mag lev creations from Japan

Germany has shown much interest in Mag lev technology. They too are also on the forfront of Maglev design and technology. The principal high speed line in Germany runs between Wurzburg and Hanover, and part of the railway from Stuttgart to Frankfurt is high speed, and there is a major high speed line under construction which will run between Berlin and Hanover.

The only high speed line in Italy runs between Firenze and Rome, a non-stop service using Pendolini trains taking 1hour 30 mins with an average speed of only 103mph, 165km/h. The line is however visually impressive with a large number of tunnels and viaducts.

Here in the U.S. there are plans of creating Mag lev train systems among several key cities. In 1999, the Federal Railroad Administration granted out $15 million to seven cities to execute preconstruction planning for maglevs. The cities' layouts were collected and evaluated by the FRA in 2000, and two finalists were chosen to vie for federal funding last January. The two tracks still in the running are Pittsburgh and Washington, D.C./Baltimore. Pending Congressional appropriation, the winning proposal will receive $950 million to authorize construction of the nation's first high-speed maglev by 2010.