Chuo Shinkansen
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Chuo Shinkansen (中央新幹線) is a proposed maglev line connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan. Although planning and construction have not begun, an eighteen-kilometer test track has been built between Otsuki and Tsuru, Yamanashi Prefecture, which may be integrated into the line at a later date. The trains currently being tested have operating speeds of over 500 km/h, making the Chuo Shinkansen the world's fastest railway.
The Chuo Shinkansen's proposed route is a straight line between Tokyo and Osaka. The great expense in blasting tunnels through the mountains of central Japan has made many observers speculate that the project would be a white elephant that could never recoup its costs if it were actually built.
The line is occasionally referred to as the Linear Shinkansen because of the use of a linear motor as its method of propulsion.