A video is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows Japan’s new electric running at a speed of 4800 kmph. It is also being claimed that it takes only 10 minutes to travel 515 km from Osaka to Tokyo. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video of a Japanese train traveling 515 km in 10 minutes at a maximum speed of 4800 kmph.
Fact: It is a time-lapse video. The original uploader has mentioned that the video was made by a method called ‘Time variant hyper-lapse/time-lapse’. The maximum speed of Shinkansen is 285 kmph. Generally, it takes 2 hours 30 minutes on the Shinkansen to go from Tokyo to Osaka. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When we searched with some relevant keywords on the internet, it was found that some users have posted a YouTube link with a similar title. The video is now unavailable on YouTube. But the archived versions of the YouTube video can be found here and here. The video was uploaded by ‘FERMATA STUDIO’ (the same name can be seen on the video posted on Facebook) on YouTube. In the description of the video, it reads – “This video is a fiction. Normally it takes 2.5 hours from Shin-Osaka to Tokyo (515km). Made by a method called ‘Time variant hyper-lapse/time-lapse’”.
As per Google, the travel time is around 2 hours 30 minutes on the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Osaka. On the website of ‘Central Japan Railway Company’, it can be seen that the maximum speed of Shinkansen is 285 kmph. The details regarding JR Central’s SCMAGLEV, which runs at a higher speed and set a record of 375 mph, can be read here. Also, the video has been debunked by several other fact-checkers around the world.
To sum it up, the posted video of a Japanese train running at a speed of 4800 kmph is a simulated time-lapse video, not real.
