High-speed rail
Records
Records
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### Speed

[thumb\|[L0 Series Shinkansen](/wiki/L0_Series_Shinkansen "L0 Series Shinkansen"), unconventional world speed record holder ()](/wiki/File:JR_Central_SCMaglev_L0_Series_Shinkansen_201408081002.jpg "JR Central SCMaglev L0 Series Shinkansen 201408081002.jpg")
[thumb\|[V150 train](/wiki/V150_%28train%29 "V150 (train)"), modified [TGV](/wiki/TGV "TGV"), conventional world speed record holder ()](/wiki/File:2007-06-18_-_Gare_de_Paris-Est_-_TGV_4402.JPG "2007-06-18 - Gare de Paris-Est - TGV 4402.JPG")

There are several definitions of "maximum speed":
* The maximum speed at which a train is allowed to run by law or policy in daily service (MOR)
* The maximum speed at which an unmodified train is proved to be capable of running
* The maximum speed at which specially modified train is proved to be capable of running

#### Absolute speed record

##### Overall rail record

The speed record for a pre\-production unconventional passenger train was set by a seven\-car [L0 series](/wiki/L0_series "L0 series") manned [maglev](/wiki/Maglev "Maglev") train at  on 21 April 2015 in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan.

##### Conventional rail

Since the 1955 record, where France recorded a world record of speed of 331 km/h, France has nearly continuously held the absolute world speed record. The latest record is held by a [TGV POS](/wiki/TGV_POS "TGV POS") trainset, which reached  in 2007, on the newly constructed [LGV Est](/wiki/LGV_Est "LGV Est") high\-speed line. This run was for proof of concept and engineering, not to test normal passenger service.

#### Maximum speed in service

, the fastest trains currently in commercial operation are :

1. [Shanghai Maglev](/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev "Shanghai Maglev") :  (in China, on the lone  maglev track)
2. [CR400AF/KCIC400AF](/wiki/Fuxing_Hao "Fuxing Hao"), [CR400BF](/wiki/Fuxing_Hao "Fuxing Hao"), [CRH2C](/wiki/CRH2 "CRH2"), [CRH3C](/wiki/CRH3 "CRH3"), [CRH380A \& AL](/wiki/China_Railways_CRH380A "China Railways CRH380A"), [CRH380B, BL \& CL](/wiki/CRH3 "CRH3"), [CRH380D](/wiki/CRH380D "CRH380D") :  (in China and Indonesia)
3. [TGV Duplex](/wiki/TGV_Duplex "TGV Duplex"), [TGV Réseau](/wiki/TGV_R%C3%A9seau "TGV Réseau"), [TGV POS](/wiki/TGV_POS "TGV POS"), [TGV Euroduplex](/wiki/Euroduplex "Euroduplex") :  (in France)
4. [Eurostar e320](/wiki/British_Rail_Class_374 "British Rail Class 374") :  (in France and GB)
5. [E5 Series Shinkansen](/wiki/E5_Series_Shinkansen "E5 Series Shinkansen"), [E6 Series Shinkansen](/wiki/E6_Series_Shinkansen "E6 Series Shinkansen"), [H5 Series Shinkansen](/wiki/H5_Series_Shinkansen "H5 Series Shinkansen"):  (in Japan)
6. [ICE 3 Class 403, 406, 407](/wiki/ICE_3 "ICE 3") :  (in Germany)
7. [AVE Class 103](/wiki/AVE_Class_103 "AVE Class 103") :  (in Spain)
8. [KTX\-I](/wiki/KTX-I "KTX-I"), [KTX\-II](/wiki/KTX-II "KTX-II"), [KTX\-III](/wiki/HEMU-430X%23Commercial_version_%28EMU-260/320%29 "HEMU-430X#Commercial version (EMU-260/320)") :  (in South Korea)
9. [AGV 575](/wiki/AGV_%28train%29%23NTV "AGV (train)#NTV"), [ETR 1000](/wiki/ETR_1000 "ETR 1000") (Frecciarossa 1000\):  (in Italy)
10. [ETR 500](/wiki/FS_Class_ETR_500%23Second_generation "FS Class ETR 500#Second generation"):  (in Italy)

Many of these trains and their networks are technically capable of higher speeds but they are capped out of economic and commercial considerations (cost of electricity, increased maintenance, resulting ticket price, etc.)

##### Levitation trains

The [Shanghai Maglev Train](/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train "Shanghai Maglev Train") reaches  during its daily service on its  dedicated line, holding the speed record for commercial train service.["Top ten fastest trains in the world" railway\-technology.com](http://www.railway-technology.com/features/feature-top-ten-fastest-trains-in-the-world/) 29 August 2013 

##### Conventional rail

The fastest operating conventional trains are the Chinese CR400A and CR400B running on [Beijing–Shanghai HSR](/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Shanghai_high-speed_railway "Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway"), after China relaunched its 350 km/h class service on select services effective 21 September 2017\. In China, from July 2011 until September 2017, the maximum speed was officially , but a  tolerance was acceptable, and trains often reached . Before that, from August 2008 to July 2011, [China Railway High\-speed](/wiki/China_Railway_High-speed "China Railway High-speed") trains held the highest commercial operating speed record with  on some lines such as the [Wuhan–Guangzhou high\-speed railway](/wiki/Wuhan%E2%80%93Guangzhou_high-speed_railway "Wuhan–Guangzhou high-speed railway").
The speed of the service was reduced in 2011 due to high costs and safety concerns the top speeds in China were reduced to  on 1 July 2011\. Six years later they started to be restored to their original high speeds.

Other fast conventional trains are the French [TGV POS](/wiki/TGV_POS "TGV POS"), German [ICE 3](/wiki/ICE_3 "ICE 3"), and Japanese [E5](/wiki/E5_Series_Shinkansen "E5 Series Shinkansen") and [E6 Series Shinkansen](/wiki/E6_Series_Shinkansen "E6 Series Shinkansen") with a maximum commercial speed of , the former two on some French high\-speed lines, and the latter on a part of [Tohoku Shinkansen](/wiki/Tohoku_Shinkansen "Tohoku Shinkansen") line.

In Spain, on the [Madrid–Barcelona HSL](/wiki/Barcelona_Madrid_high-speed_rail_line "Barcelona Madrid high-speed rail line"), maximum speed is .

### Service distance

The [China Railway](/wiki/China_Railway "China Railway") G403/4, G405/6 and D939/40 [Beijing–Kunming](/wiki/Beijing%E2%80%93Kunming_high-speed_train "Beijing–Kunming high-speed train") train (, 10 hours 43 minutes to 14 hours 54 minutes), which began service on 28 December 2016, are the longest high\-speed rail services in the world.


Do levitation trains pose any environmental concerns compared to conventional rail?