Map Monday, Where are the World’s High-speed trains and How Fast are they?

Trains offered the first form of truly high-speed land transportation. For nearly 100 years they reigned supreme for intercity and longer distance travel. During the first half of the 20^th century automobiles and airplanes chipped away at the railway’s monopoly. The advent of jet airplanes and the modern highway system in the 1950s and 60s decimated passenger rail service in the United States.

What is High-speed rail?

There is no definitive standard for what constitutes high-speed rail. A general rule of thumb is anything over 200 kilometers/hour (120 miles/hour), qualifies. Newer designs aim for speeds above 250 kilometers/hour (160 miles/hour). Contrary to popular opinion track design and layout rather than engine technology presents the biggest hurdle for faster rail travel. Specifically, doubling a train’s speed requires quadrupling acceleration and braking distances as well as curve radii. Put simply, building new rail lines or implementing changes to existing lines to accommodate high-speed trains costs a lot of money.

First to Accept the Challenge

Despite the economic challenges, Japan implemented the first high-speed rail network. The Tokaido Shinkansen or ‘bullet train’ began operation in 1964. Today system includes more than 2,700 km (1700 mi) of track supporting maximum speeds of 320 kilometers/hour (200 miles/hour). More than 150 million passengers/year ride the trains that run between Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka.

Europe Joins the Fun

In the mid-1970s many European countries began investing in national high-speed rail projects. Initially, these networks focused on connecting cities within each country. Many runs on their lines reached speeds of 300+ kilometers/hour (187 miles/hour). While rail service crisscrossed the continent, high-speed service ended at national borders.

Adding the UK

Completion of the cross-channel tunnel or Chunnel in 1994 and the 1996 EU Trans-European transport network directive spurred development of true international high-speed rail service. Over the following decades new lines and interoperability standards connected the previously isolated national networks. A few of the recent notable projects include:

2007 High Speed 1 connecting London, Paris, and Brussels

2013 The Pyrenees Perthus Tunnel connects Barcelona & Madrid to Lyon, Paris, and Marseille

2015 Eurostar service from London to Lyon

2015 Thalys trains on the Paris-Brussels corridor extended service to Amsterdam and Cologne

2016 Gotthard Base Tunnel (world’s longest) improves links between Switzerland & Italy

2018 Deutsche Bahn & Eurostar offered twice daily London to Amsterdam service

European High-speed rail map (courtesy of Wikipedia)

Is Maglev the Future?

Magnetic Levitation uses one set of magnets to keep the train above the track and a second set to propel the train. Maglev trains accelerate and decelerate much more quickly than conventional trains. They can also achieve higher speeds and hold many speed records. The Shanghai maglev train has a top speed of 430 kilometers/hour (270 miles/hour). Japan and Korea also boast operational maglev train lines. Cost and operational concerns have blunted the deployment of maglev elsewhere.

What about the US?

Outside of the densely populated northeast and around Chicago, passenger rail service remains an outlier for most Americans. Additionally, American high-speed is more the tortoise than the hare. I live in Rochester, NY. Our westbound train service consists of a single daily train at 11:12 pm. We have more eastbound options but getting to NYC takes 8+ hours. You can drive or ride a bus and arrive in less than 6 hours and even with TSA rules fly in under 3. Perhaps we’ll just have to wait for Elon Musk’s Hyper Loop.

As always thanks for reading.

Armen

Note to pay the bills:  My Misaligned series contains nothing about high-speed trains, but it does feature elements of theoretical physics and mythology. How does theoretical physics fit into a Young Adult fantasy series about Welsh legends?  Learn more by reading a summary of the series here or find links to purchase books here.

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