While trains in China, France and Japan have achieved the fastest point-to-point speeds in the world, 18 countries now achieve averages in excess of 160kph — including Turkey, Portugal and Uzbekistan.

However, China remains the pacesetter in the world rail speed race, according to the latest biennial World Speed Survey.

The survey compiles the fastest timetabled start-to-stop journeys between different pairs of stations in countries around the world. Most of the fastest timings occur between intermediate stations, where average speeds are not impeded by slow approaches to major city hubs.

This year, the results show maximum speeds reaching 300kph, with the world’s fastest point-to-point rail journey taken by China Railways Corp’s G66/79, which sprints betweenShijiazhuang and Zhengzhou Dong in 81min at an average speed of 283.4kph in each direction.


Second in the list is a pair of express trains between Beijing and Nanjing — 1,021.9km covered in 219min at an average of 280kph.

France, Japan, Spain and Taiwan complete the top five countries by fastest point-to-point timing. A notable entry this year is Ouigo 6284, the third-fastest train in Europe, which achieves 253.2kph on its run between Lyon St Exupéry airport and Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy station on the outskirts of Paris.

Ouigo is the low-cost TGV operation launched by SNCF in April 2013. The world’s fastest nternational train is a TGV running between Brussels Midi and Charles-de-Gaulle Airport; this achieves an average speed of 229.7kph, while Eurostar ES9010 manages the London-Paris journey in 140min at an average speed of 210kph.

Britain’s fastest journey is Southeastern’s Stratford International-Ashford service, where trains manage average speeds of 179.6kph over High Speed 1; the fastest trains on the East and West Coast main lines manage averages in excess of 175kph.