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Japan鈥檚 $64BN Gamble on Levitating Bullet Trains Explained - YouTube
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[Music]
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this is a japanese bullet train
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if you want to get somewhere in this
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country fast then it's got you covered
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an engineering marvel formed in the
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aftermath of the second world war it's
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carried more than 10 billion passengers
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at speeds of up to 320 kilometers an
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hour and helped create the world's third
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largest economy
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but that's not enough for japan and the
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country is now building the world's
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fastest passenger train a system that'll
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move at twice the speed of the bullet
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trains and cut journey times in half all
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by doing away with one fairly
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fundamental component
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wheels
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using magnetic levitation these new
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trains will hover 10 centimeters above
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the track eliminating the friction that
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comes with being in contact with the
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rails
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but the new line has proved deeply
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controversial grappling with delays
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skyrocketing construction costs and a
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fierce debate over environmental
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concerns
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now nearing completion the world is
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waiting to see whether the project will
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successfully hover above its challenges
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and make a quantum leap for
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transportation
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or prove a step too far
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[Music]
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japan kind of knows a thing or two about
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trains
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the country was the first in the world
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to develop high-speed rail with the
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construction of the takaido shinkansen
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line between tokyo and osaka in 1959
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back then the japanese people and indeed
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the rest of the world were skeptical of
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the country's massive investment into
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rail
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and many thought it would soon be
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outdated in an exciting new era of air
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travel and highways
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nevertheless the first high-speed line
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opened in october 1964 ready for tokyo's
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first hosting of the olympics it cut the
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travel time between japan's two biggest
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cities from nearly seven hours to just
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under four
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proving an instant success the lion
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served more than 100 million passengers
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in less than three years
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that same trip on a modern bullet train
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now takes two and a half hours
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when the new chauchin canton line opens
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it'll be done in just 67 minutes
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at full speed the chelsea cans and
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trains will move at 500 kilometers an
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hour although a 2015 test run hit a
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world record 603 kilometers an hour
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now it's pretty widely agreed that those
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kind of speeds are basically impossible
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for a conventional bullet train to hit
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they eventually will become limited by
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the friction that's created by their
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wheels
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to solve that problem japanese engineers
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looked back in time to a technology
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that's actually been around since the
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early 1900s
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magnetic levitation also known as maglev
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in fact concepts from maglev trains date
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back to the 60s and the world's first
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and so far only commercial maglev line
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has been in operation since
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2004 running between shanghai's city
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centre and its airport
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the central japan railway company or jr
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central has modernized this technology
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using superconducting magnets
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electromagnets are cooled to minus 269
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degrees allowing the trains to levitate
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higher above the tracks but the trains
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need to be moving at speed before the
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magnets come in
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once the train reaches 150 kilometers an
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hour by itself maglev kicks in and the
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carriage is lifted off its rubber wheels
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the train then interacts with a set of
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coils in the track one used to levitate
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its mass and the other to propel it
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forward
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now without the wheels the carriages can
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travel at incredible speeds the trains
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are also completely autonomous
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controlled by the track rather than a
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driver a measure which it's claimed
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makes collisions or accidents far less
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likely
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the tokyo to negoa line has been under
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construction since 2014 and is expected
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to open in 2027.
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a further extension linking tokyo to
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osaka will begin to be built straight
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afterwards and open as early as 2037 10
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years ahead of schedule
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[Music]
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unlike the existing bullet trains whose
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tracks hug the japanese coastline chow
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shinkansen will be 90
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underground cutting beneath the southern
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alps
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256 kilometers of the 285 kilometer long
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line will be in tunnels
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the reasons for this are twofold firstly
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maglev trains work better when they
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travel in the straightest line possible
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and burrowing beneath the mountains
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avoids japan's more earthquake prone
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coast
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although in taking this approach jr
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central has ended up digging some of the
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deepest tunnels japan has ever seen
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that's raised a number of environmental
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concerns especially in the shizuoka
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prefecture where tunnelling threatens
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the basin of the oi river a major water
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source for the region
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while environmental studies have found
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that the risk of disturbing the basin is
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low local governments have criticized
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those reports for being in their words
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insufficient and hasty
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the incumbent governor of shizuoka even
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ran on a platform opposing the railway
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successfully winning an election in june
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2021 where chow shinkansen was a key
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issue
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this controversy combined with
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unexpected hurdles in the construction
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of new stations has taken the project's
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cost from 13.7 billion dollars to a
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staggering 64 billion dollars making it
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one of the most expensive mega projects
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ever undertaken in the country
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the hefty price tags now leading many in
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japan to question whether the new line
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is worth it at all
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indeed there are quite a few drawbacks
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to japan's maglev once completed it'll
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be more expensive to run than regular
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high-speed trains because it consumes
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more energy though you could argue that
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it will enable greater economic growth
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the trains also won't be able to hold as
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many passengers within their smaller
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carriages and they won't travel as
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frequently
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traditional bullet trains run on the
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tokyo saka line roughly every 3 minutes
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because maglev track switches take more
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time it'll only be possible to run a
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maglev train once every 10 minutes
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japanese rail companies have also
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previously been able to make a lot of
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money by selling their technology
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overseas
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but a noticeable new player has emerged
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on the scene since the advent of the
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first bullet train back in 1964.
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china
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it's now the king of high-speed rail and
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the country is home to two-thirds of the
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world's entire high-speed network
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while none of its intercity lines are
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maglev china is beginning to develop its
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own version of the technology
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in july 2021 it tested a maglev train
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that reached 600 kilometers an hour
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almost breaking the record set by japan
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that train could theoretically go from
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beijing to shanghai in three and a half
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hours faster than the four and a half
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hours it takes by plane
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china doesn't need to buy japan's
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technology and the rest of the world is
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still playing catch up with regular
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high-speed rail
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so why is japan so intent on building
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this maglev line and why did the
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government grant jr central alone to
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finish it 10 years ahead of schedule
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if chaos and canton is successful then
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it has the potential to create a
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commutable distance between the
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country's two largest cities
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linking the regions of tokyo and osaka
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in a pretty profound way
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it's surprised it's becoming
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increasingly alluring around the world
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megacities are systematically being made
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of china's pearl river delta through
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strategically placed infrastructure
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while less formally the boundaries
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between cities in the northeastern
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united states from washington dc up to
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boston are being blurred
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it's the same in western europe
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merging major cities like this has the
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potential to create economic powerhouses
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on a scale we've never seen before
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when the bullet train first began
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construction more than half a century
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ago the world ridiculed it but it
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ultimately allowed japan to grow
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connecting regions and sharing
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prosperity
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in the decade that followed its opening
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japan went from an economy that was just
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10 the size of the us to the world's
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second largest
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of course we'll need to wait and see if
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this new line can levitate the country
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to further success but moving people
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between major cities in record-breaking
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time
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would open up a whole new world
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