....can't compete with this:

Japan Railway Comp. (JR Tokai) (TYO:9022) (aka. "The Central Japan
Railway Comp.) is responsible for ferrying close to 400,000 passengers
a day between some of the largest cities in central Japan. While its
fastest bullet trains can cut the transit time from Tokyo to Osaka from
about 6 hours by car to about 2 hours and 20 minutes by bullet train, JR
Tokai is dreaming of a next generation maglev system that could go even
faster, completing the 500+ kilometer (310+ mile) journey in under an hour.

I. Meet the Chuo Shinkansen Maglev, a $90B USD Project

To do that it's been creating a superconducting magnetically levitated
(SCMaglev) train design (a type of electrodynamic suspension Maglev),
which travels along a U-shaped track at speeds of up 505 km/hr (311 mph).

To achieve that goal much work had to be done. While the fundamental
idea behind a magnetically levitated vehicle was first devised and
patented in the U.S. in 1905. Magnetic levitation is appealing in some
ways -- with no moving parts, it has low maintenance costs, and some
kinds of Maglev designs (such as JR Tokai's) self-stabilizing reducing
the chance of the kind of crashes that plague high-speed rail-based trains.

But the cost of building a track is high -- very high. JR Tokai
estimates that it will costs ¥5T ($50.9B USD) to build the line from
Tokyo to Nagoya alone, and as much as ¥9T ($91.7B USD) to complete a
full line from Osaka to Tokyo, linking Japan's four largest cities
(Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, and Tokyo).

II. Four Decades of Development is Finally Paying Off

By the 1970s -- when JR Tokai first began to toy with Maglev designs --
one crucial variable had fallen into place: cheap, reliable electricity.
But it need to perfect the physics of its travel mechanism to reach
speeds high enough to make it worth building the expensive track,
particularly when bullet trains were already on the table.
JR Maglev
The JR Maglev design gets its power from the wound wire in the track.
Superconducting magnets in the train induce magnetic fields in the wound
wires, propelling the train at speeds of up to 311 mph.

By 1979 it had completed an unmanned test platform, capable of reach
speeds of 517 km/hr (321 mph). But it took a decade to develop
sufficient safety controls and aerodynamics to start construction on a
test track. Construction of the The Yamanashi Maglev Test Line began in
1990 in the town of Aichi, near the city of Nagoya. The track using
wound coils along the track which are powered by local substations. The
train is equipped with superconducting magnets, which induced a magnetic
field in the powered coils.

Maglev development
The Chuo Shinkansen project has been in the works for decades.

This magnetic field drives the trains along the track at high speeds.
Since this is an SVMaglev style line, trains must first reach a certain
speed using retractable wheels before the magnetic forces become
powerful enough to drive the train once the train reaches around 30 km/h
(19 mph). The retractable wheel launching and landing process thus bear
some similarities to an airplane takeoff/landing.

Between 1990 and 2008 the 18.4 km (11.4 mi) track saw test runs by
MLU002N and MLX01 test engines. To test the designs JR Tokai gave away
free rides on the track. An estimated 200,000 passengers were carried
on these free rides.

III. Longer Test Track Allows Tests With More Cars

In June of this year the extension of the test track was completed. The
track is now more than twice as long as before, reaching a length of
42.8 km (26.6 mi) and also incorporates new features that are commonly
necessary in Japan's mountainous landscape, such as tunnels. The test
track is at last ready for expanded testing of the Series L0 prototype,
a front car co-designed by JR Tokai and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd.
(TYO:7011).

Completed in 2008 the Series L0 prototype features a 28 m (92 ft) front
car capable of hauling multiple 25 m (82 ft) passenger cars, dubbed "L0
cars". Each L0 car carries up to 68 passengers, with a stubby rear car
carrying only 24 passengers.

Series L0 train
The Series L0 Front Car [Image Source: JR Tokai]

Tests on the 42.8 km track began on Thursday in Japan, with five L0 cars
coupled to the front engine, for an entire train legnth of 153 m (502
ft). The train succesfully reached a top speed of 505 kilometers per
hour (311 miles per hour).

Japan's transportation minister Akihiro Ota was among the passengers to
test the new track. He remarks:

I experienced the ride at 505 kph. My body felt the sense of speed, but
it was not at all uncomfortable and conversation was possible as usual.
There was not much vibrating.

This [success] provides pride and hope as a technology power, and it
will also be important in dealing with natural disasters. We want to
provide support for the realization of this technology.

The next step will be to complete an environmental impact study to
ensure there's no glaring issues with the track, which is expected to
pass through both densely populated regions and the Japanese alps. If
that goes well the test track will be further extended and 9 new L0 cars
will be built, allowing for test runs with up to 12 total L0 cars (for a
total train length of 228 m (748 ft)).

L0 in action
The L0 with a three car test on Thursday [Image Source: Jun Kaneko]

The finished design will feature 14 L0 cars, plus the front car and rear
car, a design capable of hauling 908 passengers.

IV. JR Tokai Wants to Bring Maglev to the U.S.

JR Tokai is hoping to have the entire multi-billion dollar Osaka-Tokyo
line complete about a decade later, in 2027. The full line will be
dubbed "Chuo Shinkansen". While the Japanese government funded much of
the early research and development in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, JR Tokai
is fulling paying for the commercial line deployment itself.

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When you don't waste your money on the military, you can have nice things.