What are the fastest trains in the world? Here is the updated world ranking of the ten track arrows.
What is the fastest train in the world? Thanks to technological advances - read under High Speed - speed has increased significantly in recent years.
If two centuries ago the first steam locomotives reached a maximum speed of 48 km/h, already in the twentieth century thanks to electrification a train could reach peaks of 200 km/h.
Now, however, with High Speed trains can travel even faster, even if recent tests on magnetic levitation are reportedly breaking all records.
These advances have transformed rail transport, making the train one of the fastest and most efficient modes of travel globally.
Let’s take a detailed look at the ranking of the 10 fastest trains in the world updated to 2025.
Top 10 Fastest Trains in the World
This infographic shows the Top 10 Fastest Trains in the World.
The world’s fastest train, the Shanghai Maglev, uses electromagnets to float above the tracks, eliminating drag, reducing maintenance costs, and allowing for higher top speeds.
The French TGV SNCF currently holds the world speed record for a commercial train. A modified TGV prototype, equipped with two motorized bogies, reached 574.8 km/h in the northern Champagne region of France in April 2007.
The Japan Rail Tōkaidō Shinkansen is the longest-running train in the top 10 fastest trains in the world and was the world’s first high-speed rail system. The iconic train was launched for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo to connect the city to Osaka at a speed of 210 km/h. Today, the Shinkansen travels at 320 km/h and carries over a million passengers a day.
The Frecciarossa 1000 is 10th in the ranking of the fastest trains in the world. The most performing of the Trenitalia fleet, it can travel on all the AV networks in Europe and reach a speed of almost 400 km/h thanks to the 16 powerful engines distributed across all the carriages.
For years, the Frecciarossa 1000 has connected the main Italian cities such as Milan, Rome, Naples, Turin, Venice and Florence, but since 2021 it has also been used in Spain on the Madrid-Barcelona line.
| Country | Train name | Max operating speed (km/h) | Speed record (km/h) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇳 China | Shanghai Maglev | 460 | 501 |
| 🇨🇳 China | CR Harmony | 350 | 486 |
| 🇨🇳 China | CR Fuxing | 350 | 420 |
| 🇩🇪 Germany | DB Intercity-Express 3 | 350 | 368 |
| 🇫🇷 France | SNCF TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) | 320 | 575 |
| 🇯🇵 Japan | JR Shinkansen | 320 | 443 |
| 🇲🇦 Morocco | ONCF Al Boraq | 320 | 357 |
| 🇪🇸 Spain | Renfe AVE 103 | 310 | 404 |
| 🇰🇷 South Korea | Korail KTX-Sancheon | 305 | 421 |
| 🇮🇹 Italy | Trenitalia Frecciarossa 1000 | 300 | 389 |
Speed data is reported by Railway Technology and is current as of June 2023
China is currently developing a new maglev hyperloop train called T-Flight built by the state-owned China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation (CASIC). The train broke the world speed record in a test run, reaching 623 km/h. The company’s goal is for the trains to reach 1,000 km/h by 2035.
Japan is also developing the L0 Maglev series, which connects the 286 kilometers between Tokyo and Nagoya in just 40 minutes, faster than a flight between the two cities.
Original article published on Money.it Italy. Original title: I 10 treni più veloci del mondo. Uno è italiano
