>>1210415I'd say that the edge is currently going to go to Japan just because the Japanese have decided to build a maglev line, and they are getting the L0 Series Skinkansen trains ready.
Those will be going speeds of 500 km/h in service speeds.
Meanwhile in Europe, construction of 400 km/h capable lines will start soon, and right now the only train that can do 400 km/h in service would be the AGV.
I honestly think that maglevs, and the L0 are a bit of a meme. I mean, who the hell has the capital to build a 500 km long maglev line? Plus, there's the added issue of possible profit issues, which I doubt would be a thing in Japan, since the mentality towards public transport is just so much different, but if you were to build a maglev system in Europe, well, so many issues just arise overnight. First the people calling it a boondoggle, then the NIMBYs, then there's the issue of getting the money to build such a complicated system for such a distance, then there's how you're going to run it and then, finally, the fare system for such a thing.
Japan is lucky in so much as it just isn't a country that is well adapted to having a lot of domestic flights, or budget airlines, really. Meanwhile, in Europe, DB, SNCF, Renfe, Thalys, Eurostar, SNCB, SBB and Trenitalia have to legitamately compete against Ryanair and easyJet, possibly even smaller budget airlines too.
I'm not even going to start talking about North America, because they haven't even adoped HSR in the first place, at least, not really.
I honestly doubt the SCMaglev system will be implemented beyond 2-3 lines in Japan, mostly as there's just so much in the way of existing rail infrastructure and the fact that to build new maglev lines, they would need to deconstruct the conventional rail first.
