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- Amtrak announced a new, faster line of Acela trains that will begin service starting August 28.
- The NextGen Acela trains will reach a top speed of 160 mph, surpassing the current fleet by 10 mph.
- In China, the Fuxing Hao trains typically reach a maximum speed of 217 mph.
The US is still trying to join the high-speed rail club.
On Thursday, Amtrak announced a new line of faster trains to run in the Northeast Corridor, connecting cities like Boston, New York, and Washington, DC, starting on August 28.
The NextGen Acela trains will reach a top speed of 160 mph, outspeeding the current Acela fleet by 10 mph.
The Acela is already the fastest train in the US. It’s followed by the Florida Brightline, which runs between Orlando and Miami at a top speed of 125 mph.
Running on “ancient tracks,” as reported by The New York Times, even the fastest Amtrak trains still deal with outdated transit design that prevents higher speeds.
While promising developments in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Texas are currently under construction, high-speed passenger trains — often characterized as systems that run above 186 mph — do not yet exist in the US, The New York Times reported.
Here are the 10 fastest trains in the world, from countries including France and China. This ranking is based on the speed at which the trains typically run rather than their top recorded speed, which often counts test runs.
Gareth Fuller – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images
Typical speed: 186 mph (capable of reaching 200 mph)
Type: Electric multiple unit train
Serviced route: Multiple routes, including London-Paris and London-Brussels
Years in service: Since 2015
Associated Press
Typical speed: 186 mph (capable of reaching 205 mph)
Type: Electric multiple unit train
Serviced route: Frankfurt-Cologne
Years in service: Since 2000
Benson Truong/Shutterstock
Typical speed: 186 mph (capable of reaching 224 mph)
Type: High-speed rail
Serviced route: Multiple routes, connecting cities like Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Salerno
Years in service: Since 2014
Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images
Typical speed: 186 mph (capable of reaching 268 mph)
Type: Magnetic levitation
Serviced route: Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Longyang Road Station in Pudong, Shanghai (18.6 miles)
Years in service: Since 2003
NGCHIYUI/Shutterstock
Typical speed: 190 mph
Type: High-speed rail
Serviced route: Multiple routes, including Seoul-Busan
Years in service: Since 2004
Oriol Paris/Flickr Vision
Typical speed: 193 mph (capable of reaching 217 mph)
Type: High-speed rail
Serviced route: Madrid-Barcelona
Years in service: Since 2007
Mounir Taha/Shutterstock
Typical speed: 199 mph
Type: High-speed rail
Serviced route: Casablanca-Tangier
Years in service: Since 2018
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images
Typical speed: 199 mph
Type: High-speed rail
Serviced route: Multiple routes, including Paris-Lyon, Paris-Marseille, and Paris-Nice
Years in service: Since 1981
Sankei/Getty Images
Typical speed: 199 mph (capable of reaching 217 mph)
Type: Shinkansen bullet train
Serviced route: Tokyo-Aomori
Years in service: Since 2011
Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
Typical speed: 217 mph
Type: Electric multiple unit train
Serviced route: Multiple routes including Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Tianjin, and Beijing-Hong Kong
Years in service: Since 2016