In 1994 a experimental 6-car train was built for JR Central by different manufacturers to test technology to be incorporated in future shinkansen trains operating at speeds of 300 km/h (186 mph) or higher. Power output was 12 MW. On 26 July 1996, the train recorded a Japanese national speed record of 443.0 km/h (275.3 mph) on the Tōkaidō Shinkansen between Maibara and Kyoto. This record still stands.
The Class 955 trainset was officially withdrawn on 1 February 2002. End car 955-6, built by Hitachi, is exhibited now in the new SCMaglev and Railway Park in Nagoya, which opened on march 14, 2011.
