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World’s Fastest Train Records Speed of 375 Miles Per Hour

The record-breaking run is part of the tests before JR Central can start commercial operations in 2027 on the Tokyo-Nagoya line, which it’s constructing at a cost of 5.52 trillion yen ($47 billion). — The record-breaking run is part of the tests before JR Central can start commercial operations in 2027 on the Tokyo-Nagoya line, which it’s constructing at a cost of 5.52 trillion yen ($47 billion).
Photographer: Tsuyoshi Matsumoto/AP Photo

Kiyotaka Matsuda

April 21, 2015, 1:59 AM UTCUpdated onApril 21, 2015, 4:05 PM UTC

Japan’s faded economic prowess received a boost after a magnetic-levitation train operated by Central Japan Railway Co. set a new world speed record of 603 kilometers per hour (375 miles) on a test run in Yamanashi Prefecture just outside of Tokyo.

Whether any of this makes a shred of economic sense is another matter.