Disney-themed Shinkansen trainset debuted on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line

21 February 2025

Continuing from the success of JR East's Disney Magical Journey Shinkansen, JR Central launched its "Wonderful Dreams Shinkansen" special train for a limited period from 21 February 2025 to mid-September 2025. This debut is done as part of commemorating the opening last June of Tokyo DisneySea’s “Fantasy Springs” area, as well as to promote Tokyo Disney Resort (TDR) as a tourist destination. 

This is the third time a Disney-themed Shinkansen is launched, as well as the first time a themed Shinkansen was launched, after the other two Disney-themed Shinkansen trainsets was launched earlier by JR East on their Tohoku Shinkansen. To know more, click on this link.

Revival of an idea of a hyper loop maglev line between Shanghai and Hangzhou

Today, I came across an article from Baidu published in the last few years saying that a hyper loop maglev is under planning between Shanghai and Hangzhou. If completed, it would take only 15 minutes to travel between the two cities at around 1000km/h, as compared to 45 minutes on the current high speed rail at around 350km/h or 2-3.5 hours via regular trains. The line will be slated for completion in 2035.