World’s Fastest Trains

High-speed rails have improved the travel experience in a growing number of countries. With the passage of time science and technology revolutionized the entire railway systems from steam locomotives to high-tech bullet trains. Today, railway is considered to be an important mean for mass transportation.

Let’s take a look at some of the World’s high speed trains.


10. THSR 700T, Taiwan

Operating Speed: 186 mph
Record Speed: 196 mph
Launch Date: 2007

The aerodynamic trains of Taiwan High Speed Rail operates between the capital, Taipei, and the industrial city of Kaohsiung, covering a distance of 345km in around 90-100 minutes.

Photo: maginechina/Corbis


9. Eurostar Class 373, Britain, France and Belgium

Operating Speed: 186 mph
Record Speed: 
208 mph
Launch Date: 
1993

Operating between three beautiful train stations; London’s St. Pancras Station, the Gare du Nord in Paris, and South Station in Brussels, Eurostar Class 373 completes the entire journey in2 hours and 16 minutes.

Photo: Granville Davies/LOOP IMAGES/Loop Images/Corbis


8. ETR 500 Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) and ETR 575 AGV, Italy

Operating Speed: 186 mph
Record Speed: 211 mph (Red Arrow), 224 mph (AGV)
Launch Date: 2008 (Red Arrow), 2012 (AGV)

Italy offers two high speed rail services; The Red Arrow (public) and Automotrice à Grande Vitesse AVG (private) operating on the same tracks.

Photo: MARKA / Alamy


7. Sancheon (KTX2), South Korea

Operating Speed: 190 mph
Record Speed: 217 mph
Launch Date: 2010

Manufactured by Hyundai, the trains take nearly seven minutes to accelerate from zero to 190 miles per hour but need just 1.2 minutes to come to a complete stop. Operating between Seoul and the southern port cities of Busan and Mokpo, KTX2 makes a trip in less than three hours.

Photo: Prisma Bildagentur AG / Alamy


6. AVE Series 103, Spain

Operating Speed: 193 mph
Record Speed: 250 mph
Launch Date: 2006

Over the past two decades, Spain has transformed its rail service from one of Western Europe’s slowest and least efficient into the continent’s largest high-speed network, spanning 1,900 miles and nearly every major Spanish city.

Photo: Pedro Antonio Salaverría Calahorra / Alamy


5. TGV POS, France

Operating Speed: 199 mph
Record Speed: 357 mph
Launch Date: 2008

France introduced its revolutionary Train à Grande Vitesse (TGV) in 1981.

Photo: G. Bowater/Corbis


4. Shinkansen E5, Japan

Operating Speed: 199 mph
Record Speed: 223 mph
Launch Date: 2011

Nicknamed as  Duck-Billed Platypus  Shinkansen E5 is Japan’s fastest train. This train operates between a 419 miles route between Tokyo and Aomori.

Photo: Haruyoshi Yamaguchi/Corbis


3. ICE 3, Germany

Operating Speed: 199 mph
Record Speed: 229 mph
Launch Date: 2000

Photo: imagebroker / Alamy


2. CRH380, China

Operating Speed: 217 mph
Record Speed: 303 mph
Launch Date: 2010

From a starting point of zero, China has accelerated to develop the world’s largest and busiest high-speed rail network in less than a decade. Its 5,800 miles of rapid trains now carry nearly half a billion passengers per year.

Photo: Xinhua Press/Corbis


1. Shanghai Maglev Train, China

Operating Speed: 268 mph
Record Speed: 
311 mph
Launch Date: 
2003

The SMT’s top operating speed of 268 mph makes it faster than any NASCAR, Indy, or Formula One race car.

Photo: Chen Fei/Xinhua Press/Corbis

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