China out in front with the world’s fastest trains

[John Ashworth]

China out in front with the world’s fastest trains

China now has the fastest regular timetabled trains in the world, significantly faster than any other country, according to Railway Gazette's biennial World Speed Survey, which appears in the July 2019 issue of Railway Gazette International magazine.

Compiled by Jeremy Hartill of the Railway Performance Society, using data for May and June, the 2019 World Speed Survey reveals that several trains in China are now timetabled to average more than 300 km/h between station stops, a milestone which no other country has achieved. This has been made possible by an increase in the maximum speed on the Beijing – Shanghai line to 350 km/h.

The fastest two trains are timetabled to cover the 1 021∙9 km between Beijing Nan and Nanjing Nan stations in 193 min, at a start-to-stop average speed of 317∙7 km/h. Several services between Nanjing and Jinan also average more than 300 km/h...