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L0 Series maglev

Manned superconducting maglev run of 603 km/h on the Yamanashi test line on 21 April 2015, printed by Guinness and Railway Gazette.

Also known as Series L0, L0
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Top speed

Published as 603 km/hPublished as 603 km/hPublished as 603 km/h

Manned Series L0 (A07), superconducting maglev, Yamanashi test line, Central Japan Railway.

OfficialGuinness World Records (opens source in a new tab)

In context

  • 5.8× a cheetah's timed top speedSourced · Cheetah, 29 m/s. Sharp 1997, mean of three timed runs over 201.2 m
  • 1.8 football fields a secondConstant · American football field, 100 yd (91.44 m)
  • London to New York in 9 h 14 minConstant · London to New York, 5,570 km great-circle

Worked out from the sourced figure above, which stays the ranked number.

This list

Why it's so fast

A train is fast when the guideway and the power can keep the cars stable. Steel wheels on rail are one technology. A maglev that does not touch the guideway is another.

  1. Contact, or none

    Wheels lose energy to the rail and have to stay on it. A superconducting maglev floats, so the limit moves to aerodynamic drag, the guideway and the power supply.

  2. A test line is not a timetable

    A record run on a test track and the speed of a train you can buy a ticket for are filed separately on this site.

The manned rail record is the L0 Series maglev.

This is how the category works. A note written for this entry appears here once it is in the database.

Provenance

Every measurement

Claimed, measured and official figures side by side, each with its source. The ranked figure is marked.

  1. 603km/h375mph168m/s326knRanked figure

    Top speed. Manned Series L0 (A07), superconducting maglev, Yamanashi test line, Central Japan Railway.

    Official
    Guinness World Records (opens source in a new tab)
  2. 603km/h375mph168m/s326knRanked figure

    Absolute speed. Manned Series L0 (A07), superconducting maglev, Yamanashi test line, Central Japan Railway.

    Same figure as this entry's home ranking, so the human-built hub can sort it. Not a second trial.

    Official
    Guinness World Records (opens source in a new tab)

Reference

Specs

Operator
Central Japan Railway
Line
Yamanashi Maglev test line
Date
21 April 2015
Guideway
Superconducting maglev

Context

Background

Guinness records 603 km/h (374.68 mph) for the Series L0, formation A07, operated by Central Japan Railway on the Yamanashi Maglev Line on 21 April 2015. Railway Gazette reported the same day: a Series L0 superconducting maglev reached a maximum of 603 km/h on the Yamanashi guideway.

The mile-per-hour conversion is not stored. A later 590 km/h run was not given three agreeing sources, so it is absent. The 2003 MLX01 mark of 581 km/h is a separate entry.

Head to head

Compare L0 Series maglev

Open the speed race

Spot a wrong number?

Every report is read by a person, and corrections are dated on the page.