The fastest Russian train, the German-made «Sapsan», which runs between St. Petersburg and Moscow, travels at an average speed of 200 km/h and can accelerate to 250 only on one stretch of track. The speed of the «slowest» vehicle in our hit parade, meanwhile, reaches 380 km/h.
The company «Russian Railways» promises that by 2027 a new-generation train of fully Russian manufacture will appear in Russia, and it will be twice as fast – able to accelerate to 400 km/h. But while we stand on the platform waiting for our high-speed train, let us find out which trains in the world are the fastest right now. While also noting the achievements of our eastern neighbors – a third of the trains in our ranking are made in China.
Talgo AVRIL, Spain
Maximum speed: 380 km/h
Talgo is both the name of the train and of the manufacturer, and it stands for the following: Tren Articulado Ligero Goicoechea Oriol (Light Articulated Train Goicoechea and Oriol). Alejandro Goicoechea is the engineer who came up with this type of train design, and Luis Oriol is the investor who helped bring the idea to life. The design’s special features lie in the fact that the train uses light, short aluminum cars, which makes it possible to change the gauge of the wheel pairs while the train is moving. The concept was first presented in 2010, and 6 years later the Spanish railway operator signed a contract with Talgo worth 786 million euros (15 trains) and maintenance over 30 years.
Frecciarossa 1000, Italy
Maximum speed: 394 km/h
The high-speed Frecciarossa 1000 train is the product of a joint venture between an Italian rail manufacturer and the multinational conglomerate Alstom. Development of the project began in 2008, and as early as 2010 the Italian state railway operator Trenitalia signed a contract worth 1.54 billion euros for the production of 50 trains. Each train is 202 meters long and consists of eight cars.
Siemens Velaro, Germany
Maximum speed: 403 km/h
Velaro is an entire family of electric trains of various modifications produced by Siemens. They are operated in many countries of Europe and Asia, and the Russian «Sapsan» also belongs to this family. In July 2006 one of the varieties of the Velaro (AVE S-103) set what was then the world speed record for commercial railway trains – 403 km/h. But nine years later this train is far from the fastest – it ranks eighth in our top 10.
Fuxing, China
Maximum speed: 418 km/h
Development of the project to create a high-speed train by the company CRRC began in 2012, and two years later the project was ready. The series of trains received its name, Fuxing, in 2017, and in June of that year the first train set off from the South Railway Station of Beijing to Shanghai. The train is also now used on the Beijing–Hong Kong and Beijing–Harbin routes. The number of cars in its makeup can reach 16, which accommodate up to 1,200 passengers.
HEMU-430X, South Korea
Maximum speed: 421 km/h
On March 31, 2013, during test runs, the train reached a speed of 421.4 km/h, which allowed South Korea to join the elite club of countries producing trains with speeds above 400 km/h (after France, Japan, and China). The first train connected the two largest South Korean cities, Seoul and Busan, and now the travel time between them is less than two hours.
Shanghai Maglev, China-Germany
Maximum speed: 431 km/h
The train project was carried out by a German consortium at the request of the Chinese authorities, and it is currently the fastest commercial maglev electric train. The «Shanghai Maglev» runs along a not very long route – it connects the Longyang Road metro station in Shanghai and Pudong International Airport. Within 1.5–2 minutes the train accelerates to 430 km/h and maintains it for several minutes. As a result, the roughly 30 km journey takes a little over 7 minutes.
CRH380A Hexie, China
Maximum speed: 486 km/h
The speed of the train developed by the company CRS depends on the number of cars in the makeup. An 8-car train accelerated to 416 km/h during a test run, while a longer 16-car one reached a speed of 486 km/h. The first trains of the Hexie series were produced abroad, while subsequent ones were already made directly in China with a transfer of their production technology – this was a key requirement of the Chinese authorities. China now holds many patents in the field of electric train production, but they are valid only within the country, which hinders the sale of Chinese trains on the international market.
TGV POS, France
Maximum speed: 574 km/h
This series of 4th-generation French high-speed trains operates on the Paris–Luxembourg and Paris–Strasbourg lines. In 2007 one of the representatives of this series set the world speed record for electric trains, accelerating to 574 km/h. A great deal of time has passed since then, yet even in 2023 such a result is enough to be among the top three. Of course, passengers are not carried at such speeds on this train (its operating speed is around 320 km/h), but the figures are impressive all the same – after all, the average speed of modern airliners is from 500 to 900 km/h.
CRRC Qingdao Sifang, China
Maximum speed: 600 km/h
Unlike the Shanghai one, this high-speed maglev train, presented in 2021, is fully made in China. In terms of design it is also a maglev – the train is driven by the force of an electromagnetic field and does not touch the rails. It has already passed tests, but the problem is that there is as yet no railway line in the country along which it could run – such a line will appear in China only in a few years.
L0 Series Maglev, Japan
Maximum speed: 603 km/h
The L0 series train of the Japanese company JR Central set the speed record for ground rail transport back in 2015. At present the line along which it will run is still only being built. It is planned to connect Tokyo and Osaka, with a travel time of a little over an hour at an average speed of 500 km/h.
