RailEnquiry

he Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central) has made public its project to build a magnetic train service capable of reaching 600 kmph (373 mph) that is scheduled to go into operation in 2027.

The firm, which already has begun tests with Maglev trains, will start construction of the new line beginning in 2014, it announced Wednesday.

JR Central expects to inaugurate its first commercial route between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027.

The new model will travel this strech of 286 km (177 miles) in about 40 minutes, instead of the 100 minutes that currently-available Bullet train service requires, the Kyodo news agency said.

Maglev trains function using a system of magnetic levitation created by special motors installed near the rails.

Thanks to the magnetic field the motors generate, the train actually rests up to 10 centimeters above the rails, eliminating contact with the tracks. With air as the only friction-causing element, a situation allows the train to move at higher speeds.

To conduct their testing, the railway company built a 42.8-km (26.5 miles) stretch of track with curves and tunnels in Yamanashi prefecture west of Tokyo.

The firm, which operates the Bullet trains that link the country's four major urban areas - Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka and Nagoya - uses superconducting magnets cooled to a temperature of -273C (-459F) for its trains, thus eliminating electrical resistance and increasing their speed.