Japan, a country at the forefront of train technology, crisscrossed with a crazy number of rail lines and bullet trains, has done it again. Kawasaki Heavy Industries is developing the country's fastest train. How fast is that? A speedy 217mph, a nice increase over the previous fastest, which moved at 186mph.

As a bonus, the new trains are more energy efficient and less noisy than older trains, making them better on almost all fronts. It's going to take another year and a half for the design to be finalized, after which they'll start production and sales. Man, do I wish they would bring some of these over to the states. San Fran to LA in two and a half hours, anyone?

KHI, via CrunchGear