One of the reasons Japan started slipping behind in high-speed rail is that they chose to do mag-lev instead of just regular steel on steel. That and they’re literally running out of space for new lines.
Without some advancement on superconductors at room temp, they’re probably not going to be able to afford swapping out commuter rail for highspeed mag lev and are stuck in their current phase of development.
One of the reasons Japan started slipping behind in high-speed rail is that they chose to do mag-lev instead of just regular steel on steel. That and they’re literally running out of space for new lines.
Without some advancement on superconductors at room temp, they’re probably not going to be able to afford swapping out commuter rail for highspeed mag lev and are stuck in their current phase of development.