1. Introduction

On May 28^th, 2011, I read a newspaper article reporting that Mr. Ohata, at that time the Minister of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism, recommended to JR Tokai (Central Japan Railway Company) the construction of a new Shinkansen (bullet train) line called Linear Central Shinkansen. Forty years have passed since the adoption of the basic plan, and the project for “Super Dream Express”: electromagnetic force is used to lift the trains off the rail, is finally being put into action [1],[2]. I never expected such a recommendation, and my concern over the future of Japan has motivated me to write this article. In fact, linear motor cars and trains are very popular among children and adults alike, which are reflected in their positive opinions and high expectations of the vehicles. The popularity is shared by intellectuals as well. A few years ago, former Osaka Prefecture governor Hashimoto spoke of his dream of constructing a line for linear motor trains to link central Osaka City with Kansai International Airport [3], and Chiba Prefecture governor Morita has promised, as a campaign pledge, to run the trains between Haneda and Narita Airports [4]. There has been a huge, yet unaccountable, popularity of linear motor trains among people.

As with the issue of linear motor trains, there are still a large number of things that are beyond our comprehension in this world. Even scholars and researchers, who must have studied three times harder than others, sometimes have absurd ideas and thoughts. To say the least, they are wasting what they learned as students or, in worse cases, ignoring it. Just think of scientific education they had undergone at school since they were small children. Science explains a variety of phenomena on the Earth using numerical values, and, therefore, established scientific knowledge can be regarded as common knowledge. It is not an exaggeration to say that they ignore or refuse to accept such common knowledge. This reminds me of the remarks and responses of officials involved in nuclear power generation following an accident at TEPCO Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant, caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake [5, 6].

A linear motor car is a vehicle that uses electromagnetic force to lift itself off the rail while running, and its appearance resembles that of a train. In the announcement, the construction, scheduled to be started in 2014, of a railway line between Tokyo and Osaka for linear motor trains was suggested. Without friction between its wheels and the rail, the hovering vehicle runs more quietly, let alone faster, than conventional trains. According to the newspaper article, it will run from Tokyo to Nagoya in 40 minutes, and to Osaka in 67 minutes [7]. Actually, a linear motor train, affectionately called “Linimo”, made its debut in EXPO 2005 AICHI, JAPAN, which you may have enjoyed riding. The exposition, also known as “EXPO 2005 AICHI” or “Expo of the Environment”, featured “Living in harmony with the environment and nature” as its main theme, and also attracted attention as the first world exposition in the 21st century, or the century of the environment, held in Aichi Prefecture, Japan [8]. This international exposition introduced the linear motor train as “an environmentally conscious vehicle of the 21st century”.

2. Are Linear Motor Vehicles Environmentally Friendly?

However, is the linear motor train really eco-friendly? Unlike conventional trains, it hovers a little off the rail while running, as explained above. This has a lot to do with a natural law or principle by which everything in this world is governed. It is a fact that every object falls towards the Earth. In other words, it takes a significant amount of energy to lift an object against the force of gravity. The required amount of energy is expressed using the following Formula (1), which is taught in high school physics lessons [9]:

(1)

It is widely known that the law of universal gravitation was formulated by Newton when he saw an apple falling from a tree. Every object falls towards the Earth regardless of his theory of universal gravitation, of course. Newton just theorized the fact using a formula, and this downward force has become “a scientific subject” since then. To put it simply, all objects on Earth are attracted by the force of its gravity. Of course, you can lift an object if you want to, although it requires a larger amount of energy than “E” in Formula (1), which is compatible with the law of increase in entropy. Even young children understand that it requires a larger amount of energy to lift a heavy object. When a space shuttle was launched in the U.S., people standing at a distance of five kilometers from the launching site could hear a loud noise. This was because launching a rocket against the force of gravity, or downward force, required a substantial amount of energy. On the other hand, a space shuttle was very quiet when it was returning home, falling towards the Earth slowly. With no exception, all objects in this world are attracted by the gravity of the Earth. Anywhere in the world: Africa, South America, Europe, and Antarctica. It is easy to have objects fall, whereas lifting something requires a significant amount of energy.

Imagine you are shopping in a supermarket. Which do you think is easier, pushing a shopping cart or carrying a heavy shopping basket? Of course, pushing a cart is easier (see Figure 1). That is why we often see elderly ladies pushing a shopping cart in a store. Pushing a cart requires less energy. Carrying a heavy shopping basket full of groceries makes you tired, or you may not even be able to lift it.

Figure 1. Which do you think is easier when you are shopping?

3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Linear Motor Trains

What about linear motor trains, which have just been introduced? Linear motor trains, including Linimo (Aichi Rapid Transit Co., Ltd), a feature of EXPO 2005 AICHI, have to stay in the air while running, although by only a few millimeters off the rail. You can easily understand that it takes quite an effort to lift such a heavy object. Just imagine you have to run a conventional train while holding it up in the air. Since the wheels do not contact the rail, a linear motor train runs very fast and quietly, without creating a loud noise as ordinary trains do. Nevertheless, it requires a substantial amount of energy for the vehicle to stay in the air while running, doesn’t it?

I sometimes provide students in class with the following explanation: Even the strength of humans, say 100 people, can move a train car used for JR or private railways by pushing it. However, it is very difficult or impossible to lift a train car and carry it, at least for 100 people. After listening to this explanation, students understand that lifting and holding up an object in the air require a significant amount of energy. From this point of view, running linear motor trains is nothing but a waste of energy, isn’t it? Even today, you can still see linear motor trains running in the suburb of Nagoya City as the legacy of the Aichi exposition. They have to lift the trains up in the air, run them for only one or two minutes, lower them to stop at a station, and lift them up again to leave for the next station. This has to be repeated in each leg. Furthermore, as the railway line has a large number of stations and the mean distance between two stations is very short, the trains cannot run at fast speed. Just thinking of this makes me laugh. Needless to say, conventional trains are far more cost-efficient.

One of my students conducted an Internet search on the financial status of the company that owns the Linimo railway line. According to the financial statements, the net operating deficit has been two to three billion yen for the past years - a deficit of approximately ten million yen per day [10]. And this does not even include the construction of over 100 billion yen and personnel expenses for executives retired from government offices. I cannot imagine the scale of economic damage to the Japanese public.

I also went to see EXPO 2005 AICHI, and there was a long line of people on the station platform, waiting for the train, on a hot summer day. The trains to and from the station were jam-packed all through the day. The exposition was held from March 25 for about six months, which means that almost half of the year 2005 starting April 1, one week after the opening, was the period of EXPO 2005 AICHI. During the period of the exposition, the trains were overcrowded all day long that year. Even in 2005, the railway company run a deficit of more than 200 million yen. It makes no sense. The operation of conventional trains would have produced huge profits.

Subway trains running in Kyoto City where I am dwelling have at least six cars. JR trains in the suburban areas of Tokyo and Osaka consist of more often cars. However, Linimo run as a three-car train during the period of the exposition, although they expected a substantial number of visitors. I had to wait for one hour before I got to ride outward and return trains. The visitors would have arrived at the exposition site earlier and more smoothly by ordinary trains consisting of a larger number of cars. This is really absurd. You already know the reason why Linimo has only three cars, don’t you? A linear motor train consisting of four or more cars would be too heavy to be lifted in the air. In fact, I hear that Linimo could not take off once or twice [11].

Figure 2. A operating loss by fiscal year

4. Discussion

Who decided to operate that stupid thing for an international exposition? The then Prime Minister and most politicians and bureaucrats involved in the project, who studied hard at prestigious universities, must have known that lifting a heavy object requires a significant amount of energy. Or universities at that time did not teach that? No way. Even preschoolers can understand this. Imagine you are shopping in a supermarket. Which do you think is easier, pushing a shopping cart full of groceries or carrying the same heavy shopping basket? Of course, pushing a cart is easier. That is why we often see elderly ladies pushing a shopping cart in a store. In this sense, running a conventional train can be likened to pushing a cart, and operating a linear motor training to carrying a heavy shopping basket.

An airplane also takes off the ground, and it does not require a large amount of energy to lift its body up in the air. As the wind hits its wings while flying, a buoyancy force is produced owing to the air resistance. On the other hand, a linear motor train with no wings requires a larger amount of energy than an airplane to hold its body up in the air. The same logic can be applied to the following example: a one-ton block of iron is too heavy for people to hold up so that it will not sink, whereas an iron ship weighing one ton can easily float on the ocean owing to the buoyancy of water.

The research project for linear motor trains was initiated around the time when few people care about environmental conservation and energy saving, with the aim of developing a train that runs as fast as an airplane. However, there is no point in operating linear motor trains. In the first place, they are very inefficient. Unfortunately, the days when people were allowed to use energy as much as they want or could afford to pay for expensive transport fares are gone for good.

The general public, who were “impressed by linear motor trains” that they had never seen before, will soon recognize these drawbacks. Japan is an education superpower in which one in two people advance to colleges, and is no longer at the stage of literacy improvement.

Despite this serious disadvantage, the Japanese government is eager to sell linear motor trains to the U.S.A. Prime Minister Abe has stated that if America decides to construct railways for linear motor trains between Washington and Baltimore (60km), the Japanese government will provide financial support for 50% of the construction cost. Although the prime minister told the media that President Obama is interested in the project, no agreement has reportedly been reached on the construction of railways in those cities [12].

5. Conclusions

People in the academic community, educational circles, and media should have warned us about the above-mentioned drawbacks from the early phase of the research project. However, people involved in university education, who are usually interested in only their own specialty, paid little attention to the issue. Before and during the Aichi exposition, even prestigious newspapers were carried away with the festive mood, creating headlines such as “Need a lift to EXPO 2005 AICHI?” and “Linimo takes off” [13, 14]. As far as linear motor trains are concerned, the quality of Japanese newspapers has declined.

When a large project such as the construction of a linear motor train railway has been proposed, people in the academic community should fulfill their responsibility of providing judgment and suggestions based on scientific evidence and common sense. It is true that you may become isolated when you reveal the truth. However, people, those involved in university education in particular should say what they think is right. That is why an employment status is guaranteed for professors to some extent, and they have a high social status.