In Japan, rail companies plan to roll out a faster, sleeker version of the Shinkansen bullet train. The E-5 will hit the rails in 2011 and will supposedly go nearly 200 mph. One Japanese rail operator, JR Tokai, is moving forward with plans for a train that will run more than 310 miles per hour–although that isn’t expected to go into service until 2025. That would cut the current travel time from Tokyo to Nagoya from 90 minutes to just over 40 minutes.
The Amtrack systems here in the U.S. can get you from Los Angeles to San Francisco in about 2.5 hours, the system that the Japanese are working on would cut that down to an hour.
Learn more about the new trains at WIRED.
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