This article provides an overview of speed records in rail transport. It is divided into absolute records for rail vehicles and fastest connections in the timetable.
Current speed records
The world record for a conventional wheeled passenger train is held by a modified French TGV high-speed (with standard equipment) code named V150, set in 2007 when it reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) on a 140 km (87 mi) section of LGV Est line, part of the Trans-European high-speed rail network. Japan's experimental maglev train L0 Series achieved 603 km/h (375 mph) on a 42.8 km (26.6 mi) magnetic levitation track in 2015. Under commercial traffic and practical conditions where trains carry passengers across from one station to another, the world records for top operating speeds of maglev and single-phase trains are held respectively by China's Shanghai Maglev Train with a top speed of 431 km/h (268 mph) and CR400 Fuxing Hao at 350 km/h (220 mph). They are followed by France's TGV Duplex, Japan's E5 Series Shinkansen and the German ICE 3 (when operating in France) which all have maximum operating speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph) for commercial services.
Past world speed records Legend:
Arr (Arrangement) Disposition and number of elements forming the train. Loc One locomotive pulling one or more cars. Multi Multiple motorized elements on a single train. Single Single rail vehicle (i.e. railbus) Power DC, DC 3rd rail, AC, Single phase, Triphase, Diesel-elec., Gas, Steam, Diesel-hydraulic, Propeller, Rocket, Jet State
"Proto." (Prototype) "Unmod." (Unmodified from vehicles in service) "Tuned" (Modified at some level for a better performance) "Unknown"
All passenger trains The following is a partial list of absolute world speed records for all trains designed to carry passengers, regardless of gauge, propulsion or type of rail.
Conventional wheeled The following is a list of verified absolute world speed records for conventional wheeled rail vehicles.
Electric The following is a list of speed records for rail vehicles with electric traction motors and powered by electricity transferred to the train.
Fuel-electric The following is a list of speed records for rail vehicles with on-board fuel to generate electricity for traction motors such as diesel-electric locomotive, diesel electric multiple unit and gas turbine-electric locomotive trains.
Fuel-mechanic The following is a list of speed records for rail vehicles with on-board fuel to mechanical energy to drive vehicle's wheels such as diesel-hydraulic trains and gas turbine locomotive trains that use mechanical transmission to power the drive wheels.
Steam The following is a list of speed records for steam locomotives. Note: All records with a faster speed than 202.6 km/h (126 mph) (the record set by Mallard) are claimed and have not been officially verified (compare rival claims section).
Note:
Air propulsion The following is a list of speed records for rail vehicles that use air propulsion to move rail vehicles while the wheels are rolling along the track.
Using an air cushion and a monorail, the Aérotrain set on 5 March 1974 a mean speed of 417.6 km/h (259.5 mph) and a peak speed of 430.4 km/h (267.4 mph).
Conventional wheeled – Narrow gauge
The European speed record on meter gauge was achieved in the night from 8th to 9th July 2022. A Rhaetian Railway class ABe 4/16 train made by Stadler Rail reached 163 kph during testing in the Vereina tunnel.
Maglev trains
World fastest point-to-point average speeds in commercial operations The following are the lists of world record average operating speeds between two stations. The average speeds are measured by the total time and the distance between the two stations.
All commercially operated trains
See also
Land speed record List of vehicle speed records List of high-speed trains High-speed rail Schienenzeppelin, experimental car, driven by propeller, speed record for rail vehicles on 21 June 1931, 230.2 km/h (143.0 mph) on the Berlin–Hamburg Railway An unknown R44 set, which reached 141.22 km/h (87.75 mph) while testing on Long Island Railroad trackage
References
External links TGV 2007 record TGV 2007 record - SNCF Press release Archived 2007-09-28 at the Wayback Machine, SNCF Press release 2 Archived 2007-05-08 at the Wayback Machine Alstom V 150, Alstom Press release Reuters TGV record, Reuters TGV record video Fastest steam locomotive RDECOM magazine 'Super Roadrunner' breaks land speed record 846 TS HYPERSONIC UPGRADE PROGRAM (contains World Speed Record video) World Speed Survey 1997 (in French) Retrouvez sur cette page les chiffres clés des records sur rail dans le monde Railway developments worldwide World Speed Survey 2007 Archived 2009-07-31 at the Wayback Machine Railway Gazette International September 2007 Photos of the fastest trains