This is an assessment of Japanese High Speed Surface Transport (HSST) policy, vision, goals, and magnetic levitation development and commercialization strategy. It includes a status report for a test program now underway to demonstrate the safety, reliability and economic viability of the HSST-100 maglev train system. HSST-100 is one of three types of HSST maglev trains planned for implementation in Japan: HSST-100 for 100 km/h urban service, HSST-200 for 200 km/h medium range suburban service, and HSST 300 for the 300 km/h long range interurban application.
For the HSST-100 program, included are detailed specifications for the vehicle, location of the Chubu (Central Japan) test site South of Nagoya, test site guideway specifications, guideway switching concept, test site facility description, major test activities, and test event schedule. However, the scope of this paper is limited to describing and illustrating the status of the preceding topics, and does not include test results, because construction has been completed and preparatory trials are ongoing. Preparatory trials have demonstrated speeds up to 80 km/h. However, before the official test program begins, the vehicle must meet design point specifications and have demonstrated a peak speed capability of 110 km/h.