World’s Top 10 Countries With Fastest Trains

10. Russia



Train: Siemens Velaro RUS

Top Speed: 175 mph

Capacity: 600 passengers



Russia’s fastest high-speed train runs on the Moscow-St. Petersburg line, and made its debut in December
2009. The German-built Velaro RUS trains, also known as the Sapsan,
have cut the travel time for the 401-mile route from eight hours to
three hours and 45 minutes. The 10-car passenger trains operate at a maximum speed of 155 mph, but hit a speed record of 175 mph during trials in 2009.



The eight high-speed trains are worth nearly $1 billion.



Russia is eager to expand its high-speed rail network ahead of hosting
the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The country has invited foreign investors to
bid on development contracts for new lines that will link its cities.



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Russian Fastest Train



Here we compiled a list of the countries with world’s fastest trains
based on the maximum speed measured in miles per hour (mph). We’ve
included record speeds hit during trial runs on electric and magnetic
levitation (Maglev) trains, as well as those of experimental models. The
numbers
are based on a series of publicly available reports, as well as
information from organizations such as the Railway Gazette International
and the Center for Asia Pacific Aviation.







9. Taiwan



Train: THSR 700T

Top Speed: 186 mph

Capacity: 989 passengers



Taiwan’s high-speed rail project, which cost a total of $18 billion, is
one the world’s largest privately funded rail construction plans.



The country’s THSR 700T trains have cut travel time from 4.5 hours to 90
minutes on the 214-mile route from the northern capital of Taipei to
the southern city of Kaohsiung.



The 30 high-speed trains, which began operations in 2007, are based on the Japanese 700 Series Shinkansen “bullet train” model.



A record 36.9 million passengers rode the trains in 2010, a 14 percent increase from the year before.



The country’s high-speed rail system has been making headlines recently
after the government said the network might not last more than 10 years
because of sinking land caused by the overuse of groundwater. Last
month, the government said it would cap deep groundwater wells that
threaten the structural base of the high-speed system.



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Fastest Train in Taiwan



8. South Korea



Train: KTX-I

Top Speed: 190 mph

Capacity: 965



South Korea’s high-speed rail network, known as Korea Train eXpress
(KTX), carries more than 100,000 passengers a day on its two lines. In
April 2010, a record 178,584 people used the country’s high-speed rail
network.



After 12 years of construction, the first high-speed line was opened
in 2004, slashing travel time from the capital Seoul to the port city
of Busan to two hours and 40 minutes, half the time it took previously.
The travel time between the two cities was reduced by a further 22
minutes when a second line was opened.



The impact of high-speed rail has been felt by the domestic airline
industry, which has seen its capacity shrink by more than 30 percent
between 2003 and 2007. Although the introduction of low-cost air
carriers in the country has helped demand for air travel grow again,
passenger levels are still below what they used to be before high-speed
rail was introduced.



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Fastest Train in South Korea



7. United Kingdom



Train: Eurostar 3313/14

Top Speed: 208 mph

Capacity: 750 passengers



The Eurostar has changed the way Western Europeans travel. Since it
began operations in 1994, the London-based high-speed rail network
connects England with cities in France and Belgium via an underground
tunnel in the English Channel, often referred to as the “Chunnel.”



With 27 trains and links to more than 100 destinations across Europe,
the network marked its 100 millionth passenger in August 2009. The rail
line carries passengers at speeds of up to 186 mph. The Eurostar 3313/14
broke a British rail record set in 1979 by reaching speeds of 208 mph
in 2003.



The rail network was recently taken to court by French
train-maker Alstom over its decision to give a $600 million contract
for 10 new trains to German builder Siemens. However, a U.K. court
rejected the application
to have the contract suspended. Alstom is the world’s second biggest
train maker and the supplier of all existing Eurostar trains.



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Fastest Train in UK



6. Italy



Train: ETR 500 Frecciarossa

Top Speed: 225 mph

Capacity: 590 passengers



One of the early pioneers of European high-speed rail technology, Italy
is home to Europe’s first high-speed train line. The Florence-Rome
high-speed line made history when more than half of its entire
length—the first 86 miles from Rome to Citta della Pieve—opened in 1977.
Trains on the track reached a maximum speed of 160 mph.



Since then, the country’s high-speed rail network has grown
substantially, with high-speed lines reaching as far north as Torino to
as far south as Napoli.



The Italian-made ETR 500 is the fastest train series in the country,
with its ETR 500 Y1 model hitting speeds of up to 225 mph in 2009 on a
trip between Florence and Bologna.



Not everyone is happy with the progress, however. Earlier this month,
more than 200 people were injured in a rally against the construction of
a planned 36-mile tunnel in the northern Susa valley that would cut
three hours off the current seven-hour train journey between Paris and
Milan. Protesters say the high-speed line will ruin the area and its
construction could release harmful chemicals.



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Fastest Train in Itly



5. Spain



Train: AVE Class 103

Speed: 251 mph

Capacity: 404 passengers



Spain has the longest high-speed rail network in Europe, with 3,433
miles of tracks. With six high-speed train lines and several under
construction, the Spanish government aims to have 90 percent of its
population within 31 miles of a high-speed station by 2020.



The country’s fastest trains are the AVE series, which is manufactured
by several train makers, including Siemens, Alstom and Bombardier. The
Siemens-made AVE Class 103 train began commercial service in 2007, and
hit a record speed of 251 mph during a test run between Madrid and
Zaragoza. The maximum top speed for commercial trains in Spain is
limited to 186 mph for passenger safety.



The euro-zone debt crisis and Portugal’s austerity plan have halted a
major expansion plan, which would have linked Spain’s capital Madrid
with Lisbon in Portugal. The high-speed train link would have cut travel
time between the two cities to two hours and 45 minutes instead of the
current nine hours.



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Fastest Train in Spain



4. Germany



Train: Transrapid TR-07

Speed: 270.3 mph

Capacity: Experimental



Germany is a nation that has been at the forefront of high-speed rail
technology. It’s home to Siemens, the world’s largest manufacturer of
high-speed trains.



German companies Siemens and ThyssenKrupp have developed the Transrapid
system, high-speed monorail trains operating on magnetic levitation
(Maglev) technology, that can reach speeds of 311 mph. In 2004, the
Shanghai Maglev train in China was the first commercial Transrapid train to carry passengers, hitting speeds of 267 mph.



Although the magnetic levitation trains are developed in Germany, they
have never been used commercially in the country. The technology has
faced several setbacks, including high costs and a crash that killed 25
people during a test run in 2006. Instead, the InterCityExpress (ICE)
system has been adopted nationwide since 1991. These high-speed trains
hit speeds of 199 mph and connect German cities with cities in
Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and the Netherlands.



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An ICE train disaster near the German village of Eschede in 1998 is
considered the world’s deadliest high-speed rail accident, leading to
the deaths of 101 people.



3. China



Train: CRH380AL

Speed: 302 mph

Capacity: 600 passengers



China has the world’s longest high-speed rail network with more than 6,000 miles of routes in service.



It also boasts the longest high-speed rail route, with the opening of
its Beijing-Shanghai line earlier this month. The 819-mile route was
made using 60 million cubic meters of concrete, twice the amount used in
the Three Gorges Dam. While the CRH380AL trains operate at a speed of
186 mph, the train hit a record speed of 302 mph in a test run.



China’s first high-speed line, which opened in 2007, saw 40.6 million
passengers travel on it in just the first two years. The government
hopes to stretch China’s rapidly growing high-speed network to 28,000
miles by the end of 2015.



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Fastest Train in China



2. France



Train: TGV V150

Speed: 357 mph

Capacity: Experimental



France sped ahead of the rest of Europe in the race to build the first fully functioning high-speed rail network.



The first Alstom developed TGV trains hit the tracks in 1981, with
service between Paris and Lyon. Since then, the network has expanded to
service 150 destinations within France and neighboring countries.
Limited to a speed of up to 200 mph during normal service, the
experimental TGV V150 hit a record speed of 357 mph in 2007—making it
the second fastest train in the world. TGV’s high-speed technology is
used in national trains in many European countries including the U.K.,
Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.



Last month, French train maker Alstom signed a preliminary deal to build
a high-speed rail line in Iraq linking the cities of Baghdad and Basra.



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Fastest Train in France



1. Japan



Train: JR-Maglev MLX01

Speed: 361 mph

Capacity: Experimental



Japan is the world leader when it comes to high-speed trains, opening the world’s first modern high-speed rail in 1964.



The Japanese first made a breakthrough in the field when they introduced
the first series of the Tokaido Shinkansen “bullet trains,” which could
reach a top speed of 130 mph. The early bullet trains carried more than
100 million passengers in just the first three years. Today, the trains
are still operating on the world’s busiest rail line, carrying 378,000
passengers a day.



Maglev trains have also been developed in Japan since the 1970s. The
government has approved plans for a $112.4 billion project to build a
Maglev train line between Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, with a completion
date of 2027. These planned high-speed trains are expected to cut the
current travel time between Tokyo and Osaka from two hours and 18
minutes on the Shinkansen to just over an hour.



Currently, the experimental JR-Maglev MLXO1 is considered the world’s
fastest train, with a top speed of 361 mph in a test run in 2003.



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World's Fastest Train, Fastest Train of the World