NAGOYA — On a desolate stretch of track just before midnight, when all passenger lines have been put to bed, a juiced-up bullet train goes online and accelerates to over 320 kph. The 700-ton train, about 400 meters long, whooshes by rice paddies in under 5 seconds.
There are no locals around to witness the train glide to a stop at a deserted Kyoto Station, but that's not the point. This is an accelerated sales pitch aimed squarely at the U.S., where Japan is competing with European train makers for a new high-speed train network that could deliver contracts worth hundreds of billions.
Diplomats, business leaders and journalists were crammed in to watch special speedometers record the feat last month, the first time Central Japan Railway Co. (JR Tokai) has allowed outsiders to join a test run. Rivals abroad said Japanese trains weren't up to spec, and JR Tokai wanted to set the record straight.