For a huge train nerd like me, rail travel in Japan is a dream. I took a trip on a train that feels like it's from the future
Right from the start, it's clear that something special is happening on Platform Five. Although the track is empty, the little guardrail is already lined three-deep with Japanese onlookers, their phones held aloft. Video mode: on and recording.
An announcement heralds the Spacia X limited express as it pulls into Tokyo's Asakusa station. It looks like it's not just arriving from the ancient town of Nikko but also the future. The silvery, super-streamlined train sweeps around the bend, and I see the engineer at the controls. He eyes the excited waves of the small crowd and returns just one stern nod, as if to say, We're doing important work here: moving a whole nation, by track.
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