Is Fast Better?

JR Tokai, or Central Japan Railway Company which operates bullet train between Tokyo to Osaka, started tests of superconducting magnetic levitation (SCMaglev) train system in new experimental railroad in Yamanashi region on Thursday. Able to run longer distance for test operation, the train marked 300 mph with people aboard. Although it is an evidence of Japan’s train technology and worth amazing, is that speed needed for our ordinary life?

SCMaglev project is to connect Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka with super high-speed bullet train. JR Tokai is planning to start its service between Tokyo and Nagoya in 2027, and extend it to Osaka in 2045. It is expected that the train will carry passengers from Tokyo to Osaka, which distance can be paralleled with New York to Washington, in an hour. Considering the waiting time in airport terminal, SCMaglev trip is faster than that with airline.

JR Tokai extended its experimental railroad from 18.4 kilometers (11.5 miles) to 42.8 kilometers (26.8 miles), which enabled tests of mass transportation or actual commercial running. A prototype of commercial train vehicle called L0 Edition started running test on the railroad, on the watch of a number of train fans. TV reports introduced amazing responses of kids or men, who had seen the extremely fast passing of the train in front of them. TV Reporters on the train experienced relative calmness in the cabin and landscape flying away over the window.

The company expects that they start the construction of railroad next year. They already having environmental assessment required for the construction. Location of four stations between Tokyo and Nagoya will be determined this fall.

So, what kind of passenger is going to take advantage of this super bullet train? Current bullet train has already made business trip easy. A businessman in Tokyo who has to attend a meeting in Osaka on 10:00 a.m. can return back to Tokyo to report the result before the evening. He does not need to stay hotel in Osaka at night before the meeting. Even though SCMaglev enables two meetings for him in Osaka, it only makes every businessman busier.

If a trip is too fast, it causes a man difficulty of adaptation to the change of location. For instance, difference of climate between departing point and terminal may cause trouble of physical condition. SCMaglev project originally started early 1960s, when Japan was in the period of rapid economic growth. “The fast, the better” is an old concept of Japan in its reconstruction from devastation of the war.