This 'invisible' ghost train will hit the tracks in Tokyo around 2018

The Japanese are about to give a whole new meaning to the "ghost train" concept.

Kazuyo Sejima, one of Japan's leading architects, designed a super-reflective train as a part of Japanese railway company Seibu Holdings' 100th anniversary celebration. The seemingly invisible train is intended for public rollout sometime in 2018.

The train, as you might be able to tell from the image above, isn't actually invisible. It's just made from materials that allow it to “blend into the landscape.”

Now, as an American, a virtually invisible train immediately raises safety concerns. I don't know about the Japanese, but Americans have enough trouble not hitting fully visible trains. I can't imagine the disaster rate of an chameleonic train rolling through the countryside. Hopefully it'll be an elevated train. Read more...