L0 Series

The first L0 Series vehicle was delivered to the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line and unveiled in November 2012; five car bodies (two end cars and three intermediate cars) arrived at the depot on 22 November. A five-car set fitted with bogies was shown on 3 June 2013, and the first five vehicles were coupled and placed on the guideway that month. The set began test running on the 42.8 km test line the same month, after completion of extension and upgrade work and earlier than the originally scheduled September date. The maximum test speed was raised gradually, reaching 500 km/h by the end of July 2013. The set was lengthened to seven cars in September 2013, and test running as a 12-car formation began on 25 June 2014 before the train was reverted to a seven-car formation and used for public preview rides from November 2014.

A series of endurance and speed tests on the test track in April 2015 set several records. On 16 April 2015 a manned seven-car set reached 590 km/h, breaking the 581 km/h world record set by a Japanese MLX01 maglev on 2 December 2003; the speed was sustained for 19 seconds. That record was broken again on 21 April 2015, when a manned seven-car set recorded a top speed of 603 km/h — a land speed record for rail vehicles, recognised by Guinness World Records — carrying 49 JR Central employees and sustaining the speed for 10.8 seconds while travelling 1.8 km. The same tests broke the one-day distance record of 2,876 km set in 2003, and on 14 April 2015 the set ran 4,064 km in a single day.

Two Improved L0 Series cars, numbered in the 950s, were completed in March 2020 — an end car built by Hitachi and an intermediate car built by Nippon Sharyo — and were coupled with five existing L0 cars. They are the first L0 cars to receive power from the guideway through induction, removing the need for the on-board gas-turbine generator used in the original cars, and the new end car is more aerodynamic and carries a relocated, enlarged camera. At its press presentation, lead designer Motoaki Terai stated that the model represented completion of around 80–90% of the design goals for the final train. Test running began on 17 August 2020, and on 19 August a test run was made at 550 km/h, the design maximum speed of the Yamanashi test line. A further updated design, the M10, was announced in February 2025, and a single M10 intermediate car, coupled into an existing set, began testing in July 2025; it features a shark-skin-inspired riblet film to reduce drag and high-temperature superconducting magnets that require less cooling.

• 201026 October: JR Central announces the L0 Series, the SCMaglev train type intended for the Chūō Shinkansen.
• 2012November: the first L0 Series vehicle is delivered to the Yamanashi Maglev Test Line and unveiled (five cars delivered 22 November).
• 2013June: the first five vehicles are placed on the guideway and a five-car train begins test running; test speed reaches 500 km/h by the end of July.
• 201425 June: test running as a 12-car formation begins on the 42.8 km Yamanashi test line; the set is later reverted to seven cars for public preview rides.
• 201516 April: a manned seven-car set reaches 590 km/h, breaking the 581 km/h record set by MLX01 in December 2003.
• 201521 April: a manned seven-car set records 603 km/h, a land speed record for rail vehicles, carrying 49 employees and sustaining the speed for 10.8 seconds; later certified by Guinness World Records.
• 2020March: two Improved L0 Series cars, an end car and an intermediate car, are completed — the first L0 cars to draw power from the guideway by induction rather than an on-board gas-turbine generator; test running begins on 17 August and a test run at 550 km/h follows on 19 August.
• 2025An updated design, the M10, is announced in February; a single M10 intermediate car begins testing in July, featuring a shark-skin-inspired riblet film and high-temperature superconducting magnets.