In 2015 a Japanese maglev train with people on board set the all-time speed record for rail vehicles. What speed did it reach, in kilometres per hour?
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Answer
About 600 km/h
Once it is up to speed a maglev train floats about 10 cm above its guideway and touches nothing at all.
How to estimate it
A speed record is a measured fact, so reasoning only brackets it. The fastest wheeled train, a specially prepared French TGV, reached 575 km/h in 2007, and wheels on steel were close to their limit there. The Shanghai maglev runs at 430 km/h in daily service. A purpose-built test maglev should edge past the TGV, so guess 600. The record is about 600 km/h, precisely 603.
Source: Central Japan Railway Company; Guinness World Records
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