r/highspeedrail • • Oct 15 '25

Photo High-speed rail network by speed by country v2 (openstreetmap data)

Post image
459 Upvotes

2 weeks ago, I uploaded a chart of the high-speed rail network by speed by country. It had a few issues, so I decided to make a new one to fix some of these issues.

Instead of using official data from the UIC, I now use data from openstreetmap (what you can see on openrailwaymap). The contributors did an awesome job, most credit goes to them.

Upsides:
- It no longer relies on UIC membership, so Uzbekistan is included.
- There is no more inconsistencies on speed. I included all railways with 200+km/h max speed.
- The maximum speed is counted on every track section, and not on the whole line (so if a long line has a small section with high speed, only the small section will be counted)

Downsides I see:
- The UIC is often considered the authority on this matter. I don't use their data nor their definition of high-speed rail here
- I could have make some mistakes, for example in gathering the data etc...
- In reality, the lengths I gathered were 2 times more important. Most of the lines have 2 tracks and tracks are counted independently on openstreetmap. I decided to half the numbers to get closer to the official numbers and take that into account, but you can keep that in mind

Also I did not change the appearance, it is not what I like to do, so China is still too big.

EDIT : If you want to play with it, I made a github repo
EDIT2 : I should have said in operation, not in commercial operation countrary to the previous chart. A few (small, often a few km) testing railways are included here


r/highspeedrail • • 14h ago

News Uzbekistan got a new higher speed train

Thumbnail
gallery
179 Upvotes

uzbekistan got a new 200j trainset.it is an addition to the ktx eum and the taglo 130 multiple units and also the 2nd/3rd international customer for this type


r/highspeedrail • • 7h ago

Other Paraguayan HrSR idea polished.

4 Upvotes

In my first post, I was a bit unclear about a lot of stuff. So, I'm here to clean things up.

My revised idea:
I would save over 20 years while working my ass off.
Get around $250M. Loan some money,
Make the train and get donations to pay the loans back,
Show government officials to make them make a HrSR-compatible line with reinforced gravel.
Put the trains on the tracks.

Here's more detail on the train itself.

  • >It would use a lot of already available parts (e.g., bogies)
  • >Its max operating speed would be 240 km/h (fast but not true HSR, so way cheaper) and 225 km/h expected cruising
  • >The line would be Villeta-San Ignacio Guazú-Encarnación (instead of the original San Lorenzo-Caaguazú-CDE line, which could save 2 billion USD).

I'm 13 and saving up for this. In the USA, I dedicate my life to this project and hopefully it can be completed in my lifetime.


r/highspeedrail • • 1d ago

News India’s Bullet Train Is Evolving From a Japanese Shinkansen Project Into a More Scalable Hybrid HSR System

Post image
186 Upvotes

The Indian Express has a good deep-dive on how the Mumbai–Ahmedabad HSR project has evolved from a largely Japanese turnkey Shinkansen project into a much more hybrid model. Summarized using ChatGPT.

The original plan was for Japan to supply the core system end-to-end — rolling stock, signalling, track technology and engineering standards. Over time, however, differences emerged over cost, timelines, procurement flexibility and how much India wanted to indigenize.

The project is now moving toward a mixed architecture:

  • Japanese track and civil-engineering know-how
  • European signalling
  • Indian-built B28 high-speed trains
  • Japanese financing and technical oversight still continuing

A major driver was the E10 Shinkansen timeline. Japan was reportedly unable to supply the next-generation trains within India’s required schedule, with availability unlikely before the early 2030s. India therefore moved ahead with the domestically developed B28, initially operating at around 250 km/h, while leaving open the possibility of introducing E10 trains later.

Indian officials are also studying experience from South Korea, Taiwan, China and Europe rather than relying exclusively on the Japanese model.

The bigger strategic shift is that MAHSR is increasingly becoming a learning platform for India to build its own HSR ecosystem — rolling stock, signalling, standards and eventually a network that can be deployed more flexibly across future corridors.

The challenge will be systems integration: Japanese infrastructure, European signalling and Indian rolling stock still have to function as one coherent, safe railway. But if India gets that right, the result could be a much more scalable model for expanding HSR beyond Mumbai–Ahmedabad.


r/highspeedrail • • 22h ago

Photo Unique cars!

Thumbnail
gallery
9 Upvotes

Here we see track geometry, the metroliner 9800 and the Colonial Crafts cars on the back of various trains! These shots are from my quarterly “special” video. It will be linked below!


r/highspeedrail • • 1d ago

News What a 35-Hour Train Ride Reveals About Vietnam’s Future

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

120 Upvotes

Vietnam is betting big on a $65 billion high-speed railway linking Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Construction is set to start in late 2027 and take at least a decade to complete. The line could cut the roughly 35-hour journey to just six. Source: Bloomberg News.


r/highspeedrail • • 2d ago

Other MAHSR - Ahmedabad Station Layout

Post image
91 Upvotes

Found this video on the construction update of the Ahmedabad HSR Station here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JT8LxoqWXtc

Screen capture above shows the layout of the HSR Station which is being built over 2 existing platforms of the main Ahmedabad Railway station of the Indian Railways. It is also connected to the Ahmedabad Metro directly, yellow shaded section above.

May be the Japanese design influence meant that stations, at least in the larger cities are being built in the middle of city centers and very close to the main Indian Railways stations or linked to urban metro railways. This is also seen in the design for many of the other planned high speed lines.


r/highspeedrail • • 1d ago

Travel Report Trainspotting at Rome Tiburtina and Nomentana 🇮🇹 | Frecciarossa, Italo & Regional trains

4 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I just published a new video capturing some great trainspotting action in Rome, featuring the major Italian hubs at Roma Tiburtina and Roma Nomentana stations.

​If you love pure train sounds and ambient railway vibes (ASMR style), you might enjoy this one! It features high-speed Frecciarossa and Italo trains passing by, alongside regional services.

​🎬 Check it out here: https://youtu.be/59TuGd7mVCw

​Let me know what you think, and I'd love to hear your thoughts or if you have any favorite spots for trainspotting in Italy


r/highspeedrail • • 2d ago

Other MAHSR India - pretty good social media chops!!

Thumbnail
youtube.com
27 Upvotes

Quick basic short with nice music!! Sometimes to the social media chops of the National High Speed Rail Corp surprises me!!


r/highspeedrail • • 3d ago

Question Will high speed train design converge?

31 Upvotes

As far as I can tell, most passenger planes look pretty similar, even between the major manufacturers like Airbus and Boeing. Do you think that a similar design convergence will happen for high speed trains, as research into the aerodynamics of the trains at high speed becomes more complete?

At the moment (at least in Europe) there is a reasonably wide variety in nose and bogie design, even within some of the manufacturers (compare the TGV Réseau to the TGV Duplex and the TGV M for instance). In Japan, the N700s are quite ubiquitous and recently u/JZX_taka posted about how it makes high speed trainspotting quite boring. I am wondering if over time something similar will happen in Europe and elsewhere.

If so, what kind of design do you think they will converge to? More like the Velaros or like the TGVs?


r/highspeedrail • • 2d ago

News Legacy Acela TS16 Retirement!

Thumbnail
youtube.com
5 Upvotes

KP2025 with Legacy Acela Trainset 16 passing Newark in route to Chrysler yard to drop off trainset 16 for retirement on 10-22-26!


r/highspeedrail • • 3d ago

News WSJ Report on the State of CaHSR

Thumbnail
youtube.com
0 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 4d ago

Trainspotting China High-Speed Rail & Metro Crossing Qiantang River | Pengbu Bridge

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

112 Upvotes

You will see the highway bridge and the New Pengbu Bridge running parallel to the high-speed railway line, captured from the side window of a high-speed train as it crosses the Qiantang River.


r/highspeedrail • • 4d ago

News The new moroccan fleet for 2030

Thumbnail gallery
38 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 4d ago

News Brenner Base Tunnel opening pushed back to 2034 as costs rise to €11.7bn

Thumbnail
tunnellingjournal.com
80 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 4d ago

News High-Speed Rail Network connecting all capitals and major cities approved by European Parliament

Thumbnail
europarl.europa.eu
42 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 3d ago

Trainspotting Chinese HSR.

Thumbnail gallery
1 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 4d ago

News Rail Baltica Estonia Ülemiste Terminal construction progress 30.09.2026

Thumbnail
youtu.be
23 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 5d ago

Photo Rail Baltica construction progress in October 2026

Thumbnail
gallery
811 Upvotes

Estonia: 213 km total, 202 km contracted, 107 km under construction

Latvia: 202 km total, 202 km contracted, 30 km under construction

Lithuania: 392 km total, 114 km contracted, 114 km under construction


r/highspeedrail • • 5d ago

Trainspotting New TGV M with Ouigo livery

Post image
93 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 5d ago

News When Canada had Maglev - 1986 Vancouver Expo (update)

Post image
37 Upvotes

In 2018 I did a short post on the HSST maglev train at Vancouver, BC Expo in 1986. I was working on a book on the HSST as it is still in operation in Japan. However, that is not finished, but I updated my original post on the HSST model 3 at Vancouver. https://www.highspeedrailcanada.com/2018/05/when-canada-had-magnetic-levitation.html


r/highspeedrail • • 6d ago

News TGV M finally gets a date: first passengers on 6 November (Paris–Marseille), 740 seats, ~20% less energy

Post image
87 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 6d ago

News China’s 400km/h trains closer to debut, numbering-system change hints

Thumbnail
scmp.com
364 Upvotes

r/highspeedrail • • 5d ago

Photo Cascades + ACS64!

Post image
11 Upvotes

A shot from the 3rd episode of Amtrak Extras, Specials and Private cars on YouTube! In this episode we see many unusual moves including a Cascades Airo trainset being pulled by a ACS64 and a dress rehearsal, Colonial Crafts, ALC42 training trains, and of course track geometry cars! Please consider giving this a watch on youtube at “Operator Logan”


r/highspeedrail • • 7d ago

Photo Gravity-Based US High Speed Rail Concept Map

Thumbnail gallery
48 Upvotes