International Railroad Discussion > Yamanashi Maglev Exhibition Center (Japan)

On my first full day in Japan last Saturday, I visited the Maglev test center near Otsuki in Yamanashi Prefecture, which is about 90 km west of downtown Tokyo. I rode JR East's weekend-only "View　Yamanashi" Rapid train along the Chuo Line to Otsuki Station, hopped on Fujikyuko train for a couple stops from Otsuki, then walked about a mile.

First clip of the video shows the "View Yamanashi" train departing from Otsuki.

- "View Yamanashi" at its origin, Shinjuku Station.
- Chuo Line traverses through mountain scenery.
- Quick video of "View Yamanashi" and the Maglev test runs.

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All sorts of people visited while I was there, including elderly couples, family with kids, young couples, and railfans. You can hear a mom exclaim, "Hayaaai! (so fast!)" near the end of the video. There's no admission fee for watching the Maglev test runs.

- Maglev bridge over Chuo Expressway (toll highway).
- Maglev ROW to the west into the mountains.
- Follow the signs.

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There's a monitor inside the public viewing area to watch progress of the Maglev runs. I believe the maximum speed achieved while I was there was 501 km/h, or 311 mph. Besides the current speed, the monitor also shows relative position, what mode (levitating, or on wheels), and the elevation profile.

- Progress monitor several seconds after the second clip (first pass) in the video.
- 3 types of Maglev. The left most is the one currently being tested.
- Mt. Fuji viewed from Fujikyuko train.

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Fujikyuko is a railfan friendly railroad. They buy and use secondhand EMUs from private railroads in Tokyo, and repaint them with themes to attract tourists. There's an amusement park along this line, which includes "Thomas Land."

- People become railfans (to the left) when they ride Fujikyuko.
- Interior of a Thomas-themed EMU set.
- Some unique seats in this EMU.

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- Exterior view of the Thomas train.
- Frontal view of the Thomas train.
- Timetable of Chuo Line near Tokyo on weekdays. Note the 2 minute headways on the 8 o'clock hour.

That's all folks.

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Can one ride on the maglev? I wish I could go to Japan...

Tor in Eugene

Torisgod Wrote:
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> Can one ride on the maglev? I wish I could go to
> Japan...
>
> Tor in Eugene

When I last visited about 8 years ago, people were selected by random from requests sent in by postcards to ride inside the maglev. No such information was found or available recently.

Routing between Tokyo and Nagoya has already been announced, so you should live long enough to ride it in revenue service in the future.

That 1st train is ugly!

Thanks for the superb coverage of very interesting operations. What marvelous ways those scenes convey of promoting rail enthusiasm for people of all ages and interests. Not the least of which includes the trim and quite beautiful "View" train!

~ BZ

Posted from iPhone