By Alex Davies www.businessinsider.com
The Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) yesterday unveiled a prototype it believes will bring faster train service than ever before to Japan.
The Series Lo prototype is a magnetic levitation (maglev) train, floating above its track and moving forward thanks to powerful magnets, the Japanese newspaper The Ashai Shimbun reported.It will run from Tokyo to Nagoya, and travel as fast as 500 kilometers per hour (about 311 mph).The idea of maglev-powered transportation has been around for more than a century. The first relevant patent was issued in 1905; Britain operated a low-speed maglev shuttle in Birmingham between 1984 and 1995. Today, only two commercial systems are in service. More info
