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Fast and floating: China is at the forefront after the introduction of Maglev train services.
(Credit: Costfoto / Barcroft Media / Getty Images) Learn about the world's ten fastest trains that are transforming travel in this gallery.
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Fast Fuxing: Chinese CR400 "Fuxing" trains run at a commercial maximum of 350 km / h, but have successfully reached 420 km / h in testing.
(Credit: Chogo / Xinhua / Getty Images)
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Ice worms: known as "white worms", the German Intercity-Express, or ICE, have an operating speed of 300 km / h, but the ICE3 are allowed to reach 330 km / h when they are delayed.
(Credit: Philipp von Ditfurth / picture alliance / dpa / Getty Images)
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Train a Grande Vitesse: Europe's original high-speed network has lines running from Paris to Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, Brussels and London, with trains running up to 320 km / h on some routes .
(Credit: Thomas Coex / AFP / Getty Images)
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At Full Speed: Japan's Shinkansen bullet trains introduced modern high-speed train travel to the world.
Most Shinkansen currently operate at a maximum of 300 km / h, but some reach 320 km / h.
The long tips are designed to reduce sonic booms in tunnels.
(Credit: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg / Getty Images)
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The Casablanca Express: Africa's first, and so far only, high-speed line carries trains at speeds of up to 320 km / h between the port city of Tangier and Casablanca.
(Credit: Duffour / Andia / Universal Images Group Editorial / Getty Images)
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The train in Spain: Spain's high-speed train usually operates at a commercial maximum of 310 km / h, but in July 2006 one of them broke the Spanish rail speed record of 404 km / h.
(Credit: Oriol Paris / Moment Editorial / Flickr Vision / Getty Images)
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Seoul Train: South Korea's KTX trains can run at speeds of up to 330 km / h.
Based on the technology of the French TGV, they have cut the travel time between Seoul and Busan in half, from more than four hours to just two hours and 15 minutes.
(Credit: Ed Jones / AFP / Getty Images)
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Red arrows: the impressive Frecciarossa high-speed trains of the Italian State Railways are authorized for a maximum speed of 360 km / h.
(Credit: Alessandro Rota / Getty Images)
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Heat and speed: Saudi Arabia's Haramain high-speed railway links the holy cities of Mecca and Medina at speeds of up to 300 km / h with trains modified to cope with sandstorms and high desert temperatures.
(Credit: Bandar Aldandani / AFP / Getty Images)
(CNN) -
As the world grapples with climate change, short-haul flights seem less and less attractive to many travelers.
The "
flygskam
" (embarrassment to fly)
phenomenon
, which began in Scandinavia, is already inspiring many travelers to reduce their dependence on airlines.
Until someone proves otherwise, the high-speed train is the most effective alternative to the airplane for trips of up to 1,100 kilometers.
By moving passengers between city centers at speeds of 290 kilometers per hour or more, it offers a compelling combination of speed and comfort.
The railroad's ability to move large numbers of people quickly makes it far more efficient than unproven, low-capacity concepts like the Hyperloop.
Since the 1980s, hundreds of billions of dollars have been invested in new high-speed, high-capacity railways in Europe and Asia, with Japan's Shinkansen and France's Train a Grand Vitesse (TGV) pioneering.
Travelers who are turning their backs on airplanes
In the last decade, China has become the undisputed world leader, building a 38,000-kilometer network of new railways that reach almost every corner of the country.
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Spain, Germany, Italy, Belgium and England are expanding the European network and other countries are expected to continue it by the 2030s.
In 2018, Africa got its first high-speed rail with the opening of the Al-Boraq line in Morocco and Egypt looks set to join the club before the end of the 2020s.
In the rest of the world, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan have established high-speed routes, and India, Thailand, Russia and the United States are part of a growing group of nations committed to the construction of new railways. in which trains will circulate between the main cities at speeds above 250 km / h.
But where will you be able to travel on the world's fastest trains in 2022?
1. Shanghai Maglev - 460 km / h (China)
The world's fastest public train is also unique: it is the only link in the world that currently carries passengers using magnetic levitation (Maglev) instead of conventional steel wheels on steel rails.
It connects Shanghai's Pudong Airport with Longyang Road Station, in the city center, and has a maximum commercial speed of 460 km / h, completing the 30-kilometer journey in just seven and a half minutes.
Based on German technology, the magnetic levitation trains fly on an elevated track, and the powerful magnets provide a super smooth and frictionless ride.
Drawing on the experience gained from more than a decade of regular operation, China has developed its own 600km / h magnetic levitation trains and has ambitious plans to create a magnetic levitation network, including a line between Shanghai and Hangzhou.
2. CR400 'Fuxing' - 350 km / h (China)
China's Fuxing trains can carry 1,200 passengers at a speed of 350 km / h.
Credit: Chogo / Xinhua / Getty Images
In addition to having the longest high-speed line network in the world, China now has the fastest regular trains on the planet.
The CR400 "Fuxing" trains run at a commercial maximum of 350 km / h, but have successfully reached 420 km / h in testing.
Fuxing trains, a declaration of intent for China's burgeoning rail technology industry, have been developed from previous generations of high-speed trains, which were based on technology imported from Europe and Japan.
With a length of up to 16 carriages and a maximum capacity of 1,200 passengers, this impressive family of trains is packed with new features such as seat entertainment, smart glass displays, wireless device charging, "smart cabs" and even custom engineered variants. for extreme weather conditions and autonomous operation, the latter being the only automatic high-speed trains in the world.
The faster variants of the CR400 are currently used on the main Beijing-Shanghai-Hong Kong and Beijing-Harbin routes.
3. ICE3 - 330 km / h (Germany)
Germany's InterCity Express trains are known as "white worms".
Credit: Philipp von Ditfurth / picture alliance / dpa / Getty Images
Germany's world-renowned InterCity Express (ICE) brand encompasses a broad family of express trains deployed on a wide variety of routes.
However, the fastest member of the "White Worm" family is the 330 km / h ICE3, which has been around since 1999. These elegant machines were built for the 180-kilometer Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed line and from 2002 have reduced the travel time between the two cities from two hours and 30 minutes to just 62 minutes.
Normal operating speed is 300 km / h, but the ICE3s are allowed to reach 330 km / h when lagging behind.
In tests a maximum of 368 km / h was reached.
The key to the performance of the ICE3 are the 16 electric motors distributed by the eight-carriage train, delivering a whopping 11,000 horsepower.
The ICE3 fleet operates throughout Germany and includes trains for international routes, connecting major German cities with Paris, Amsterdam and Brussels.
The design also forms the basis for Siemens' "Velaro" family of high-speed trains, which has been sold to Spain, Russia, Turkey, China and Eurostar for their second-generation international trains.
4. TGV - 320 km / h (France)
France's TGV trains were Europe's first high-speed service.
Credit: Thomas Coex / AFP / Getty Images
France has long held the world speed record for conventional trains, set at a staggering 574.8 km / h on April 3, 2007. At 150 meters per second, that's almost double the normal scheduled maximum of the Train a Grand Vitesse or High Speed Train (TGV) services, recognized throughout the world as a pioneer of high-speed rail technology.
Europe's first high-speed network remains the best known and most successful, reaching far beyond the borders of France.
The French railway industry has been progressively expanding the limits of what is possible with conventional trains since World War II, breaking the records existing in 1955 (331 km / h), 1981 (380 km / h) and 1990 (515, 3 km / h).
Currently, high-speed lines run from Paris to Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, Brussels and London, with trains running at 320 km / h on some routes.
In the last 40 years, trains have evolved through several generations as the network has expanded.
The iconic orange TGVs of the 1980s have given way to more advanced and higher capacity "duplex" trains capable of reaching neighboring countries such as Germany, Switzerland and Spain.
High-speed rail is also a huge export success, with TGV technology sold to Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Morocco, Italy and the United States in the last 30 years.
The long nose of Japan's Shinkansen trains is designed to reduce sonic booms in tunnels.
Credit: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg / Getty Images
5. JR East E5 - 320 km / h (Japan)
Japan introduced the concept of the new high-speed rail to the world in 1964 and remains a world leader, exceeding speed, capacity and safety limits on its Shinkansen lines.
While most Shinkansen currently operate at a maximum of 300 km / h, Japan Railways East (JR East) E5 "bullet trains" run at speeds of up to 320 km / h on the Tohoku Shinkansen, which runs north of Tokyo to Shin-Aomori.
Each train has 731 seats and 32 induction electric motors that deliver an impressive 12,900 horsepower.
Constructed from a lightweight aluminum alloy, the E5s feature "active suspension" that enables them to corner faster.
The extremely long tip of the drive car was designed to reduce the sonic booms that occur when trains enter tunnels at high speed.
Introduced in 2011, 59 trains were built and since 2016 they are also used north of Aomori on the Hokkaido Shinkansen, which is connected to Japan's main island, Honshu, by the 54-kilometer Seikan underwater tunnel under the Strait. by Tsugaru.
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6. "Al-Boraq" - 320 km / h (Morocco)
Morocco's Al Boraq is the fastest train in Africa.
Credit: Duffour / Andia / Universal Images Group Editorial / Getty Images
Africa's first, and so far only, high-speed railway opened in November 2018, linking the port city of Tangier with Casablanca in Morocco.
Christened "Al-Boraq" after a mythical creature that carried Islamic prophets, the service is the first phase of the planned 1,500-kilometer high-speed network in the country.
The French-made TGV Euroduplex double-deck electric trains run at 320 km / h on a new 186 km line between Tangier and Kenitra.
The $ 2 billion project also includes upgrading the existing 137-kilometer stretch between Rabat and Casablanca to increase speed, reducing travel time from 4 hours and 45 minutes to just 2 hours and 10 minutes.
Once the new proposed line to Casablanca is built, the travel time will be reduced to just 90 minutes.
Al-Boraq also holds the rail speed record in Africa: during pre-service tests in 2017, one of the 12 trains built by Alstom reached 357 km / h on the new line, more than double the speed of the following faster trains currently running on the African continent.
7. AVE S-103 - 310 km / h (Spain)
Spain has invested heavily in high-speed trains in the last 30 years.
Credit: Oriol Paris / Moment Editorial / Flickr Vision / Getty Images
Spain joined the high-speed club in 1992 using TGV technology imported from France.
Since then, it has developed its own ultra-fast trains and built the largest network of long-distance lines in Europe, stretching from Madrid to Seville, Malaga, Valencia, Galicia and Barcelona.
The AVE, short for Spanish High Speed, but which also means "bird", usually operates at a maximum commercial speed of 310 km / h.
The pride of the fleet are the S-102 Talgo and S-103 "Velaro" trains, the latter a more powerful relative of the German ICE3.
Certified for a maximum speed of 350 km / h and with a capacity of 404 seats, the S-103 share services between the two largest cities in Spain with the nationally manufactured Talgo S-102 high-speed trains.
In July 2006, an S-103 broke Spain's rail speed record of 404 km / h, at the time a world record for an unmodified commercial passenger train.
For many decades, Spanish railways were famous for their low speed and long delays, but in the last 30 years the AVE has transformed long-distance travel throughout the country and, with the network expanded again to reach all corners of the country, the revolution seems to continue.
The revolution of high-speed trains in Spain
8. KTX - 305 km / h (South Korea)
South Korea's KTX trains have cut some journeys in half.
Credit: Ed Jones / AFP / Getty Images
Since 2004, South Korea has rapidly expanded its network of high-speed railways, bypassing classic lines where difficult terrain made travel times slow and uncompetitive.
Starting from the Seoul-Busan route in 2004, KTX trains can run at speeds of up to 330 km / h, although the usual limit is 305 km / h.
The first generation of KTX-I trains, based on French TGV technology, has cut the Seoul-Busan journey time in half, from more than four hours to just two hours and 15 minutes.
South Korea is one of the four countries in the world that has developed a train capable of running at more than 420 km / h, along with France, Japan and China.
A next-generation HEMU-430X prototype reached 421.4 km / h in 2013, beating the previous Korean rail speed record of 352.4 km / h set by a second-generation KTX HSR-350x train.
The latest trains use proprietary technology and feature triple-glazed, pressure-sealed cabs to reduce noise and eliminate disturbance in the many tunnels.
With up to two departures every hour on main routes and trains of up to 20 cars, KTX is a high-speed mass transit system that carries hundreds of millions of passengers a year.
KTX trains also connect Seoul with Gwangju, Mokpo and Yeosu in the south of the country and with Gangneung in the northeast, the latter built to serve the host city of the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018.
9. Trenitalia ETR1000 - 300 km / h (Italy)
Italy's Red Arrow or “Frecciarossa” trains can reach speeds of 400 km / h.
Credit: Alessandro Rota / Getty Images
The impressive Frecciarossa (Red Arrow) high-speed trains of the Italian State Railways were introduced in 2017 in response to a new privately owned rival.
Engineered for a top speed of 400 km / h, they live up to their name with an aerodynamic arrow-shaped design, 10,000 horsepower and electrifying performance.
Although it is authorized for a maximum speed of 360 km / h in passenger service, a train reached 394 km / h in a test carried out in 2016.
The 200-meter-long trains have 457 seats in four classes ranging from standard comfortable to business, premium and executive, the latter with 10 reclining seats and seat service.
Red Arrow services traverse Italy's T-shaped high-speed network, linking Turin, Milan and Venice in the north with Bologna, Florence, Rome and Naples.
Normal business hours can reach a maximum of 300 km / h, but even this has revolutionized intercity travel in Italy, greatly increasing the rail market share on key routes such as Milan-Rome and contributing to the recent demise of the national company Alitalia.
Following extensive testing over the past two years, Italian State Railways will face French TGVs on the Milan-Paris route in 2022, and Frecciarossa trains will offer an important alternative to aging TGVs.
Another batch of Frecciarossa trains is being delivered to Spain, where they will compete with the services of AVE and Ouigo Spain on the high-speed routes that depart from Madrid.
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10. Haramain High Speed Railway - 300 km / h (Saudi Arabia)
Saudi Arabia's Haramain trains are modified to cope with the desert heat.
Credit: Bandar Aldandani / AFP / Getty Images
Sweltering heat and sandstorms don't immediately seem like the ideal environment for sophisticated high-speed electric trains, but Saudi Arabia's Haramain High-Speed Railway (HHR) links the holy cities of Mecca and Medina at speeds of up to 300. km / h.
With 35 Talgo trains manufactured in Spain and specially modified to operate in the desert at temperatures of up to 50 ° C, the 450-kilometer journey takes just two hours.
Each train has 13 carriages with capacity for 417 passengers in economy or business class and the HHR has a capacity of 60 million passengers per year.
This crowding capacity is put to the test during the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage to Mecca during which more than two million Muslims visit the city's holy sites.
Since the HHR's inauguration in 2018 it has become a popular way to travel between Medina and Mecca, which is not surprising when the equivalent road trip can take up to 10 hours.
Rail network High speed trains
