alifornia governor Arnold Schwarzenegger took a ride Tuesday on the latest model of Japan’s high-speed bullet train as his US home state looks to modernise its rail system.
The Hollywood action star is on an Asian tour with nearly 100 technology, tourism and entertainment industry leaders, in a trip aimed at boosting the state’s economic links across the Pacific.
At a busy Tokyo Station, the governor boarded the operators’ cabin of the latest Series E5 bullet train prototype — a sleek, metallic green vehicle with a massive 15-metre (50-foot) nose dubbed “arrow-line”.
He took a 60-minute round trip on the train, which has a maximum speed of 320 kilometres per hour, to Tokyo’s northern suburb of Omiya.
“Very quiet and it’s very futuristic,” said the governor. “I’m very impressed with the technology and also with the infrastructure itself.”
Japanese transport minister Seiji Maehara, who took time in the midst of his ruling party elections to welcome him at the platform, later told reporters: “Governor Schwarzenegger seemed very satisfied.”
Japan hopes it will win a contract to help California with its plan to build a high-speed rail system by 2030 expected to carry 90 million passengers a year, centred around a Los Angeles-San Francisco line.
Speaking at a breakfast meeting with the local American chamber of commerce before his “Shinkansen” train ride, the governor said: “Infrastructure, as you all know, is the most important thing when it comes to economic activities.”
“But it has to be a two-way street. We also like to help the Japanese because both of us right now are stagnant when it comes to the economy, and both can help each other,” said the former body-building champ.
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