Levitating Bullet
RIP bullet.
The fastest one, still, I feel
your magnetic pull.
Maglev MLX01-1 has the star billing in a railway park filled with polished wonders. Yet it feels wrong for it to be here. Sitting motionless. Like an athlete in a cage. This gleaming white piece of science that levitates rather than rolls is the world speed record holder for railway, having reached a top speed of 581 km/hr.
This one now rests in the Shinkansen railway museum, Nagoya, but still has a magnetic field; I watch as people are drawn to it and stroke its sleek, turbulence reducing nose. It will never again rise above its coils and beat records.
But other Maglev trains are being tested, near Fuji, with the aim of running a public service in 2027 at speeds of over 500 km/hr. While this shiny bullet sits killing time. Something unheard of on Japanese Railways.
Add Comment