Businesspeople from Japan and the United States have organized an event to promote the construction of a magnetic levitation railway for the US East Coast.

The Central Japan Railway Company, or JR Tokai, and Northeast Maglev, a US firm in charge of the railway's development, held the event in New York on Wednesday.

The high-speed train is expected to travel the 360-kilometer distance between New York and Washington in about one hour.

Environmental assessment is currently underway for a 65-kilometer section between Baltimore and Washington with subsidies from the federal government.

JR Tokai has been building the levitating train line that will connect Shinagawa in Tokyo with Nagoya, central Japan.

The event was attended by about 100 people, including officials of the US government, New York state, and local members of the US Congress.

At the event, Wayne Rogers, CEO of the Northeast Maglev, said the magnetic levitation railway will produce new jobs and promote industries, and it will help cut greenhouse gas emissions by reducing traffic volumes.

Rogers also said the construction will be a lengthy project as it takes long to obtain approvals in the United States, a country without a long history with high-speed trains.

JR Tokai Chairperson Tsuge Koei said the opening of a magnetic levitation railway will mean a lot to the United States, where airways and expressways are heavily congested. He went on to say that he is committed to fully backing the US project.