- 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Running on “ancient tracks,” as reported by The New York Times, even the fastest Amtrak trains still deal with outdated transit design that prevents higher speeds.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.
7 (tie). Eurostar e320, United Kingdom
Gareth Fuller – PA Images/PA Images via Getty Images
7 (tie). ICE3, Germany
Associated Press
7 (tie). Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000, Italy
Benson Truong/Shutterstock
7 (tie). Shanghai Maglev, China
Construction Photography/Avalon/Getty Images
6. KTX, South Korea
NGCHIYUI/Shutterstock
5. AVE S-103, Spain
Oriol Paris/Flickr Vision
2 (tie). Al Boraq, Morocco
Mounir Taha/Shutterstock
2 (tie). TGV, France
Stefano Guidi/Getty Images
2 (tie). JR East E5, Japan
Sankei/Getty Images
1. Fuxing Hao, China
Xinhua News Agency/Xinhua News Agency via Getty Images
