Fastest trains of USA, China, Japan, Europe and India – Comparison

• The fastest train of USA is the Acela Express operated by Amtrak reaching a top speed of 160 mph or 257.46 Km/h
• Japan and China has a significant edge in high-speed rail with Hayabusa and Shanghai Maglev that has been consistently ranked as the fastest trains in the world

From rudimentary horse-drawn wooden wagons in 1550s to steam in 1800s, the train journey has evolved a lot with time. Steam engines gave way to the diesel ones in 1920s and for the considerable amount of time it remained and will be the primary source of rail transport. While Europe, India, China and Japan have largely electrified main railway lines USA continues to rely heavily on diesel locomotives for passengers and freight transport. This is also the main reason why USA is far behind in high-speed rail transport development.

Diesel locomotives come into picture where there’s no power supply infrastructure and so they can be operated in remote areas as well. While diesel locomotives continues to be operational in remote areas the main railway lines in most countries has been electrified and has opened a new era of high-speed rail transport. Here we’ll talk about the fastest trains of USA, China, Japan, Europe and India.

The Acela Express – Fastest Train of USA

USA’s fastest passenger train is the Acela Express. It is the only high-speed rail in the country and is operated by Amtrak – the national passenger railroad company in USA. On an average the Acela trains operate at a speed of around 70 to 72 mph (112 to 116 Km/h) while the top speed of the train is 160 mph or 257.46 Km/h. Out of total 735 km route the maximum speed of 160 mph can be seen only on few short streches of New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts which is just 40 miles or 64.374 km of entire journey.

Fares of Acela Express

AcelaExpress only offers Business Class and First Class seatings. There’s one coach for first class and four Business Class coaches capable of carrying 386 passengers in one go. The business class has 2×2 seatings while the first class offers 2×1 seatings. The ticket fare of Business Class averages between $60 to $300 while for the first class it ranges between $200 to $500 depending on demand. The Acela Express offers connectivity for 5G WiFi and fooding for passengers.

Fuxing Series Trains – Fastest Train of China

China operates Fuxing series of trains, the flagship of them is the Fuxing CR400 capable of operating at an average speed of 350 km/h while top speed is 400 km/h which is synonymous to its name. As if that wasn’t enough China is developing even more faster version of Fuxing trains which is the Fuxing Hao CR450 to breach 400 km/h mark and touch a top speed of 450 km/h as the name suggests. In 2025 China showed the prototype of the CR450 to the world and plans to deploy it by 2027.

Fares of Fuxing CR400

The most popular route that CR400 covers is from Bejing to Shanghai which is 1,318 Km. For second class prices ranges from CNY ¥550 to ¥670 and significantly goes higher for first class which stand at CNY ¥950 to ¥1100. The highest fare is for the Business Class which almost doubled down and ranges between CNY ¥1800 to ¥2400. The CR400 comes in three different types of formation – 8 car, 16 car and 17 car depending on routes. The 8 car formation can carry upto 619 passengers while the 17 car holds a capacity to carry 1,347 passengers in one go with unlimited WiFi network support and fooding with seperate dinning car as well but most customers prefer to get their food delivered onto their seat.

Read More – How smartphone market of USA, China and India differ?

E5 Series Shinkansen – Fastest Train of Japan

Japan’s fastest operational train is the E5 Series Shinkansen that operates on Tohoku and Hokkaido Shinkansen lines with a name “Hayabusa” – a Japanese word for peregrine falcon, the fastest animal on earth. The train travels at a limited operational speed of 320 km/h but it is tested to achieve a speed of 400 km/h as well.

Fares of E5 Series Shinkansen

The train has 10 cars capable of carrying 731 passengers in one go. Gran class, Green class and Standard class are three coaches and fares of each coach vary. The longest route covered by E5 Series Shinkansen is from Tokyo Station to Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station which is roughly 823 km. Standard class ticket starts at around ¥24,200 and for Green class it stands at around ¥33,000. The most premium one Gran class starts at around ¥44,000.

Frecciarossa 1000 – Fastest Train in Europe / Italy

Designed by Hitachi the Frecciarossa 1000 is currently the fastest train in Europe. It can achieve a top speed of 400 km/h but for commercial operations it is limited to 300-360 km/h. It is operated by Trenitalia in Italy and Iryo in Spain. In Italy too Frecciarossa holds the record of being the fastest train leaving behind its closest competitor the AGV Italo by very small margin.

Fares of Frecciarossa 1000

Executive, Premium, Business and Standard are the four classes offered in the Frecciarossa 1000. Fares of each class vary widely. The longest route covered by the train is Turin to Salerno which is a distance of about 980 km. The journey takes roughly 7 hours. On this route ticket price for Standard class starts at $40 and goes upto $300 for higher classes like Executive/Premium/Business.

Vande Bharat – Fastest Train in India

In India the fastest train is known as the Vande Bharat express. It can reach a top operational speed of 160 km/h. However the average speed is way below and it stands at around 75-85 km/h only as railway network in India faces severe traffic congestions and high density routes often operate beyond capacity.

Fares of Vande Bharat Express

Depending on route in 8, 16 and 20 coach configuration the Vande Bharat train operates. The longest route covered by the Vande Bharat is between Nagpur to Pune. A journey of 881 km traveled in around 12 hours. Two classes are offered – AC Chair Car and Executive Chair Car. For AC Chair Car the ticket price is ₹2070 and for Executive Chair Car the ticket price is ₹3740.

So these were the fastest trains of USA, India, Europe, China and Japan. We hope that you’ve found this article informative if you did then please share. THANK YOU!