If you ever get the chance to ride the Shinkansen in Japan, you should really do it. I wish we had trains like this here in the US.

The Shinkansen (sometimes called the Bullet Train) is a high-speed train that goes roughly 200 mph. The new Maglev version floats on a magnetic cushion and cruises at over 350 mph which is pretty fast when you're on the ground.

The safety record is good too: no fatalities due to crashing or derailing in over 40 years of service. I think this is due to some fairly simple differences between the Shinkansen and high speed trains in other countries:

(1) The Shinkansen uses its own dedicated tracks instead of sharing them with regular trains. So the Shinkansen never has to slow down or wait for regular trains to pass by. This is different than most other countries and helps reduce the most common late time to less than 15 seconds.

(2) The Shinkansen uses an automated system (similar to the one Lexus is now using in cars) that regulates the speed of every train so it cannot get within a certain distance of the train in front of it. Most train systems around the world use signals (red, yellow and green lights or signs) to tell drivers how fast they can go. So not only does the Shinkansen avoid ever crashing into the train ahead of it, but it also allows fully loaded, 1000 passenger trains to depart every 5 minutes all day long, which makes it pretty efficient.

(3) The Shinkansen stops running every night from 12 midnight until 6 am in the morning, and uses this downtime to physically test every inch of track every night so repairs can be made before they become dangerous problems. This is different than Amtrak or British Rail, which both run 24/7 and so have to delay traffic off and on in the middle of the day whenever breakdowns occur.

I love Amtrak though, too, because America is so vast and fun to see. I once got to ride from Chicago to Los Angeles on it and it was wonderful! But it would have been fun also if we could have Shinkansen here.

Click on the link to see an amateur video of the new Maglev version racing by: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2926400396387878713 The last third of the video is pretty cool when you get to see the train from the exterior flying by some people.