[JP] 5.42 million km of Maglev test running until December 2025

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JR東海、リニア「もう実験段階ではない」　山梨実験線30年

Maglev development for the Linear Chuo Shinkansen is in its final phase. Core technology for commercial operations is established, and current engineering priorities are lowering lifecycle costs and reducing maintenance labor. A major project-side milestone occurred in January 2026 with an agreement with Shizuoka Prefecture on compensation handling for water impacts. The originally targeted 2027 opening has been postponed, while preparations for eventual service continue.

The Yamanashi test line program has accumulated about 5.42 million km of test running from 1997 through December 2025, with 340,000+ passenger test rides. Vehicle control systems and the reliability of the levitation system using superconducting magnets have been validated through long-term running. The current phase treats the system as effectively complete as a vehicle and focuses on commercial-operation validation: sustained running at the 500 km/h operating speed, reliability accumulation, and verification of cost-efficient operations and maintenance.

A key enabling component for system performance is the power conversion equipment at substations, while the vehicle side relies on superconducting technology for levitation and propulsion.

Info based on Sources: https://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZQOCC ... 6A3000000/ Accessed 2026-03-11