Maximum speed on the train. The fastest trains in the world

Thousands of people go missing every year, and these disappearances become truly baffling when investigators have virtually nothing to work with - situations in which no one has seen anything and there are no reasonable explanations.

Some of these people disappear forever, but more often, missing people are found - dead - weeks/months after their mysterious disappearance, and they are found in places that search teams have combed dozens of times. The official cause of death is either unknown or absurd.

It should be recognized that in many cases the reasons for the disappearance of people are quite trivial: from family and money problems to serial killers. Mysterious are those cases when people disappear under very strange circumstances (literally disappear into thin air; sometimes nearby hidden surveillance cameras either temporarily fail or “accidentally” look “in the wrong direction”) and/or when their bodies are found in unusual places and in a strange state (without shoes or only in underwear, and in the blood they always find abnormal high alcohol concentration). It was these unexplained cases of disappearances that became the subject of study by David Polydes, which we will talk about later.

David Polides, a former American police officer, ended his career in 2008 and devoted himself entirely to studying mysterious cases of disappearances in the USA, Canada and Europe. He wrote a whole series of books Missing 411 in which he examines the facts (and only the facts) with detective thoroughness, refusing to make unfounded assumptions. Most of his books in this series are devoted to the mysterious disappearances of people in national parks in the United States and Canada. In his latest book, he examines disappearance cases in cities across the United States and Canada. Let's look at the common features of these mysterious disappearances of people (both in national parks and in large cities):

An interesting fact is that the official authorities and the media seem to be trying to hide the scale and details of the disappearances. David Paulides describes in his books how he repeatedly tried to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain lists of missing persons from the US National Park Service. Each time, he was either demanded fabulous sums for these lists, or was told that such lists did not exist in nature! It is also quite suspicious that, despite contradictory facts, the official version has always been “accident” or “suicide”. By the way, the official verdict in the case of Elisa Lam who was found dead was also: “accident due to drowning”! It is obvious that the authorities know much more than they admit. But what are they trying to hide from us? Maybe the nature of those entities that kidnap people and lead puzzled detectives by the nose? Who's playing cat and mouse with the human race?

Many disappearances occurred near bushes with berries and large granite blocks.
The bodies of missing people were often found in water (in rivers, ponds, reservoirs, swamps and even dry streams), so the official conclusion about the cause of death was often “drowning”, despite many other facts speaking against it.
Complete absence of witnesses to the disappearance. The missing often simply disappeared into thin air a few meters away from their parents/friends, but no one saw the actual moment of disappearance.
The missing were often found in hard-to-reach places very far from the place of disappearance. For example, the bodies of several children under 5 years of age were found on the slopes of high mountains, where even experienced climbers could not reach. Or remember the famous case of the disappearance of Elisa Lam: her body was found on a locked hotel roof (on which an alarm and several CCTV cameras were installed) in a closed (!) water tank, which could only be reached using a ladder.
The victims found frozen in the ice were in an upright position (!). Some victims had their heads and shoulders over surface of the ice.
In most cases, many facts indicate that the victims were not in the water during the entire period of disappearance (this is often indicated by the uncharacteristic (minimal) level of decomposition of the corpse), despite the fact that the bodies were found in the water. This also contradicts the official conclusions about "drowning".
Presence of alcohol in the blood. It ranged from abnormally high to moderate, but could not be explained either by the amount of alcohol consumed on the evening of the disappearance, or by the stage of decomposition of the body (decomposition produces a certain amount of alcohol in the body).
Based on an analysis of 1,200 cases in the United States and Canada, David Polides identified 52 clusters of missing people, i.e. in certain places (mostly national parks) people disappear much more often. Several of the largest clusters are around the Great Lakes in the United States.
Trained sniffer dogs suddenly lost their sense of smell and were unable to pick up the trail of missing people. On the day of Elisa Lam's disappearance, the police searched the entire hotel, including with search dogs, to no avail. and the roof where her body was later found.
Memory loss. The survivors could not remember the details of their disappearance. They were often found in an unconscious or semi-conscious state.
Loss of sense of time. In most of the cases studied by David Polydes, the victims could not remember what they were doing during certain periods of time.
The intelligence level of the victims. In many cases, the missing persons were either students with high levels of intelligence (and a promising future) or student athletes. In other cases, the missing were, on the contrary, either seriously (mentally) ill children/students or disabled people. Those. in both cases we are not dealing with ordinary, average people.
Many missing people in the US/Canada either had ancestral German roots (going back many generations in the past) or studied and spoke German fluently.
Most of the victims' bodies were found in places that had been combed repeatedly and thoroughly by dozens of searchers (often with sniffer dogs).
Loss of clothing and/or shoes. Victims were often found without shoes, pants, etc. under circumstances that could not explain the loss. There have also been cases in which the belts were attached to the pants in unusual ways. How and why victims lost their clothes (often in adverse weather conditions) remains a mystery.
Missing in buildings. Several children have disappeared from homes with installed and working alarms that never went off at the time of the disappearance. Many young people disappeared in bars with installed CCTV cameras: the cameras showed how they entered the bar, but the moment of their exit from the bar was never recorded on camera, despite their serviceability and uninterrupted operation. In other cases, rotating video surveillance cameras aimed at the banks of rivers/reservoirs recorded the victim, but a few moments later, when the cameras turned again, the victims literally disappeared into thin air.
Strange and short-term weather changes in the place of loss. On the night of the disappearance, there were often sudden downpours, storms or snowfalls. Many disappearances occurred before the onset of terrible hurricanes. It's as if someone is trying to stop search teams from looking for a missing person.
Most disappearances occurred at night: from midnight to dawn.
Failure of mobile phones. Most of the mobile phones found were either broken or found with dead batteries. In some cases, the disappearance occurred during a telephone conversation! The victims suddenly became nervous and said that someone was stalking them. After which their speech became incoherent and only the whistle of the wind could be heard (as if someone were suddenly lifting them into the air), after which the connection was lost.
Irrational behavior. While at a party, young people often complained of suddenly feeling unwell or having to walk home, despite distances sometimes of several kilometers and the opportunity to use a taxi/public transport. Parents/acquaintances of missing students also frequently reported their strange, unexplained behavior on the day of their disappearance. Remember also the story about the disappearance of Dyatlov’s tour group in 1959 in the Urals: that evening they did not light a fire (and this was in sub-zero temperatures!) and did not prepare dinner, but instead devoted their evening to making a wall newspaper.
Availability of identification documents. Missing people who were found in rivers and whose bodies, judging by the stage of decomposition for several days, should have floated several kilometers downstream, almost always found identification documents, despite the fact that due to the strong current they did not have some pieces of clothing and/or shoes. As if someone really wanted those found to be quickly identified!
Some missing people have been found upstream from the place of the loss, which also contradicted the official version of “drowning.”
In some cases, there was no blood in the victims' bodies! Moreover, investigators have never been able to establish how the blood was removed from the body. After all, for full Removing blood from the body (if we are dealing with a maniac) requires special equipment, which always leaves certain cuts on the body. Such cuts/needle marks have never been found. It should also be noted that David Paulides investigated these cases as private person(and not as a police officer), therefore all the information in his books is based only on published facts or eyewitness accounts. At the same time, some details of the forensic examination are often were not published at all(because the results might shock the public? Or maybe the lack of blood made the forensic examination itself impossible?), which suggests that blood may have been missing from even more of the victims found. By the way, not a drop of blood was found in Elisa Lam’s body either!
Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) was found in the bodies of several victims. GHB is a naturally occurring hydroxy acid that plays an important role in the human central nervous system. GHB in high concentrations can be used as an anesthetic and sedative (it is illegal in many countries), as it can paralyze a person's muscles without causing loss of consciousness. Those. If victims were injected with a certain dose of GHB and then placed (while still alive) in water, they (with full awareness of what was happening) would be unable to get out of the water and would ultimately drown. The semi-conscious state and incoherent speech of the surviving victims also indicate possible use of GHB.

Hundreds of years have passed since the invention of the railway. Railway transport has overcome a long evolutionary path of development from hand-pulled massive trolleys to modern super-high-speed express trains operating on the principle of magnetic levitation, which have already become commonplace in many countries around the world. This selection will feature the fastest trains that can reach speeds of at least 300 km per hour.

11th place. HSL 1 (High-Speed Line 1) - speed 300 km/h

HSL 1 is a Belgian high-speed electric train of the TGV series (Train à Grande Vitesse - "high-speed train" in French), whose operating speed is 300 km/h, runs on a high-speed railway line connecting Brussels with the French railway line LGV Nord. It was put into operation in December 1997.

10th place. THSR 700T - speed 300 - 315 km/h

THSR 700T is a high speed train on the island of Taiwan, developed from Japanese Shinkansen trains. The train, which has a maximum operating speed of 300 km/h, connects northern Taipei and southern Kaohsiung. It consists of 12 comfortable carriages and can accommodate 989 passengers. The speed record for this train was set in 2005 and is 315 km/h.

9th place. InterCity Express (ICE) - speed 320 km/h

ICE - high-speed trains common in Germany and neighboring countries. On the Strasbourg-Paris line, InterCity Express reaches speeds of up to 320 km/h. Today, ICEs are the main long-distance train type offered by German Railways. These trains are also supplied to Russia, where they are used on the Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow - St. Petersburg high-speed railway lines.

8th place. Eurostar - speed 300 - 334.7 km/h

Eurostar or British Rail Class 373 is a British TVG series high-speed electric train operating between the UK, Belgium and France through the Channel Tunnel, which is the second longest railway tunnel in the world. The train's capacity is 900 passengers, its operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record for this train was set in 2003 and is equal to 334.7 km/h. The journey from London to Paris by Eurostar takes 2 hours 16 minutes.

7th place. KTX Sancheon - speed 305 - 352 km/h

Sancheon, formerly known as KTX II, entered service in South Korea in 2009. It was built by Hyundai Rotem based on technology from French TGV trains and is owned by Korail, the national railway operator of South Korea. Although it can reach speeds of up to 352 km/h (the record was set in 2004), for safety reasons it does not go faster than 305 km/h. The comfortable train with a capacity of 363 passengers operates on the route Yongsan - Gwangju - Mokpo and Seoul - Busan.

6th place. ETR-500 (Elettro Treno Rapido 500) - speed 300 - 362 km/h

For the ETR-500 electric train, released in Italy in 1993, the operating speed reaches 300 km/h, and the speed record was set in 2009 in the tunnel between Bologna and Florence and is 362 km/h. The train covers the distance from the center of Bologna to Milan in 56 minutes. The release of six ETR-1000 trains is planned for 2014, which will reach speeds from 360 to 400 km/h.

5th place. AVE Talgo-350 - speed 330 - 365 km/h

AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) is a trademark of the Spanish Railways operator Renfe-Operador. The abbreviation is also a play on the word "bird" (ave) in Spanish. All AVE class trains are high-speed, but the electric train AVE Talgo-350 with a capacity of 318 passengers, accelerating up to 330 km/h on the routes Madrid - Valladolid and Madrid - Barcelona, is especially fast. In 2004, during testing, the train reached a speed of 365 km/h. Due to its duck-like appearance, the AVE Talgo-350 was nicknamed Pato (duck in Spanish).

4th place. CRH380A - speed 380 - 486.1 km/h

The Chinese train CRH380A is designed for a maximum operating speed of 380 km/h, while the speed record for such a train is 486.1 km/h. The production of these iron monsters is carried out by the largest railway manufacturer in China - CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock Company. The high-speed 8-car train with an “airplane-style” interior can accommodate 494 passengers. In September 2010, the CRH-380A was put into operation for the first time on the Shanghai - Nanjing route. It later began operating daily flights on the Wuhan-Guangzhou and Shanghai-Hangzhou lines.

3rd place. Shanghai Maglev Train - speed 431 - 501 km/h

The Shanghai Maglev is a Chinese high-speed maglev train operating in Shanghai since 2004. The maximum speed of the express train is 431 km/h, which allows you to cover the distance from the city center to the airport (30 km) in just 7-8 minutes. In a test run on November 12, 2003, this train reached a speed of 501 km/h. The developers of the train are not the Chinese, but the Germans. The prototype of the Shanghai Maglev Train was the Transrapid SMT model

2nd place. TGV POS - speed 320 - 574.8 km/h

These French TVG series trains operate between France and Switzerland and between France and Germany. Operating speed - 320 km/h. At the same time, the TGV POS model holds the speed record among rail trains - in 2007, this train was able to accelerate to 574.8 km per hour.

1st place. Shinkansen series trains - speed 320 - 581 km/h

Shinkansen (Shinkansen - "new line" in Japanese) is a network of Japanese high-speed trains, often called "bullet" trains, and for good reason - the Shinkansen speed record for conventional railway lines is 443 km/h (the record was set in 1996 ), and on magnetic suspension 581 km/h, which is an absolute world record for trains (the record was set in 2003). The first high-speed train in Japan went into operation in 1964. Today, Shinkansen express trains, consisting of sixteen cars, cover the distance between Osaka and Tokyo in 2 hours and 25 minutes. The train has a peculiar elongated nose, thanks to which it received the nickname “platypus”. By the way, Shinkansen trains have the status of not only one of the fastest trains, but also the safest - in 40 years of operation there has not been a single major accident.

Russian Railways plan to create a high-speed magnetic levitation train in Russia by 2030, which will match the speed characteristics of airplanes. The first generations of such trains have been running around the world for a long time, and projects similar to the Russian one are being developed by a number of other countries. We can only hope that this technological innovation will be frozen at the project stage.

In mid-June, the president of the Russian railway monopoly Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, could leave his post. The next three-year contract of an official who was at one time predicted to achieve incredible career heights in Russian politics is expiring. But it is already known that Yakunin will not leave his post: the reform of Russian Railways is not yet completed, so the Russian authorities decided not to change the president of the company. This also means that Russian Railways will continue its project to organize high-speed traffic in Russia.

The management of Russian Railways is full of ambitions. In 2018, the monopoly will launch the first truly high-speed train in Russia on the route Moscow - St. Petersburg (VSZhM-1, 660 kilometers). The management of High-Speed Lines, a subsidiary of Russian Railways and the private Transmashholding, which is developing the project, promises that the total length of high-speed lines will exceed 3 thousand kilometers in the coming years.

It is quite difficult to say when exactly this technological miracle will overtake Russia, because so far not a single kilometer of high-speed lines have been built in our country. So far, Russian Railways can only boast of high-speed routes (Sapsan-type trains). The Strategy for the Development of Railway Transport until 2030 envisaged the construction of a high-speed railway, but all projects were actually frozen. In 2010, the Russian President ordered to accelerate the construction of high-speed lines, but the maximum acceleration that this initiative can generate is 2,178 kilometers of high-speed lines and seventh place in the world by this indicator in 2025.

Russian Railways also has much more extravagant projects than the organization of new types of high-speed ground transport of the “wheel-rail” system. The implementation of a whole set of measures within the framework of the technological platform "High-speed intelligent railway transport" in the medium term, according to Russian Railways, will make it possible to ensure train speeds of up to 400 kilometers per hour (the VSZhM-1 line will be used as a pilot), and in the long term - to create “a completely new type of transport” based on the principles of magnetic levitation, with speeds of up to 1000 kilometers per hour. This is almost three times higher than the maximum permissible operating speed of high-speed passenger trains with wheeled rolling stock (350 kilometers per hour).

This project, as it turned out on June 7, is not a fiction. The head of the Center for Innovative Development of Russian Railways, Alexander Korchagin, claims that the Russian concern, the German corporation Siemens and a number of Korean companies plan to create a high-speed magnetic levitation train - the so-called maglev (magnetic levitation) - by 2030. According to him, the implementation of the project will depend on the amount of funding. Now Russian Railways, according to preliminary data, plans to allocate 500 million rubles for R&D on this project over the course of three years.

Technology on the verge of common sense

From a technology point of view, maglev trains are certainly an innovative system. Maglev, unlike traditional trains, does not touch the surface of the rail while moving. Theoretically, the speed of such transport, due to the lack of friction, can be comparable to the speed of an airplane (currently the record belongs to Japanese trains - 581 kilometers per hour). In total, two magnetic levitation systems are now implemented in practice.

The first is EMS, an electromagnetic suspension system. It allows trains to levitate using an electromagnetic field with a time-varying force. The practical implementation of the system usually consists of tracks made of conductor (for example, familiar railway rails), as well as a system of electromagnets installed on the train. The main disadvantage of the system is its instability: fluctuations in the magnetic field must be constantly monitored and adjusted depending on many factors. In this case, we are talking not only about the train itself (the speed of the train matters for vibrations), but also about the tracks - for example, corrections to the vibrations can be made due to vibrations of these very tracks.

The second system is EDS, that is, an electrodynamic suspension system. In this case, levitation is carried out due to the interaction of the changing magnetic field in the tracks and the field created by magnets on board the train. In practice, the field above the road is created by special magnets. The main disadvantage of such a system is that in order to generate a sufficiently large repulsive force (sufficient, for example, to hold a train aloft), high speed is required, so such trains need wheels. For example, the Japanese JR-Maglev uses wheels at low speeds (up to 150 kilometers per hour).

In addition to the systems implemented in practice, there are several more that currently exist only in theory. The closest to implementation is the Inductrack permanent magnet system. To be precise, this is a variant of EDS in which the field above the road is created by currents induced by the magnetic field of the composition in the conductors. Practical tests show that such systems begin to lift a train at speeds above 30-35 kilometers per hour, and in theory they can operate at speeds of 5-6 kilometers per hour.

Racing with wheelsets

It turns out that Russian Railways will not be able to create any “completely new type of transport” - the development of magnetic levitation trains has been going on around the world for more than half a century. Railway workers compete on these roads not with each other, but with airlines, whose planes on short sections of the route (up to 700 kilometers) turn out to be less comfortable transport than high-speed trains. So, three hours on a high-speed train is essentially equal to the time it would take you to fly the same distance for one hour (this includes getting to the airport, plus formalities and baggage handling).

As a result, over 30 years in France, for example, more than ten modifications of high-speed trains were created. But in order to compete with aviation on longer routes (say, up to 1000 kilometers), even faster trains are needed. They will allow you to pick up new passengers from flights. That's why maglevs were needed.

However, economic feasibility does not always allow increasing speed without regard to expenses. Faster wheeled trains require more expensive and expensive engines, as well as special tracks. In the whole world there are only two paid high speed lines: Japanese (from Tokyo to Osaka) and French (from Paris to Lyon).

In January 2011, it became known that China was working on creating its own model of a maglev train, which could reach speeds of 600 to 1,200 kilometers per hour. Such trains can be put into operation only by 2030 (like Russian Railways), but Chinese scientists themselves admit that the likelihood that such maglevs will be built is extremely low. The cost of the vacuum pipes that would need to be built for such a train would, in their opinion, be astronomical, which would destroy all the advantages of the new trains, the main one being more economical fuel consumption.

In China, unlike Russian Railways engineers, they know what they are talking about. The PRC is developing high-speed communications at a gigantic pace, so it is not surprising that in the early 2000s, it was here that the German Transrapid (a consortium of Siemens and ThyssenKrupp) put into commercial operation a section of the magnetic road (30 kilometers) connecting the city with the airport. The maglevs covered this route in eight minutes (now the travel time has increased, since the maximum speed (430 km/h) has been reduced for safety reasons). So far, this project has not been able to pay off, and high-speed rail for wheeled trains in China is currently being built several times more.

The development of the railway system in China is driven primarily by economic nationalism and an attempt (successful, by the way) to prove to the whole world that China is capable of producing and applying innovative technologies in transport no worse, and perhaps better, than Western countries. In Germany, which has an excellent high-speed rail network, it was decided to abandon the development of maglev trains on long routes. It is possible, however, that maglev trains will become more widespread in countries where the existing road network is less efficient than in Germany. For example, in the USA and Great Britain.

External effects

High-speed communication, which is now developing at a gigantic pace in China, has a number of external effects that have both a positive and negative impact on the development of the country’s economy.

High-speed trains, if they spread over a certain territory, can reduce space, turning urban agglomerations into single economic areas. According to calculations by the British UK Ultraspeed, maglevs can show the greatest efficiency at distances of 240-800 kilometers. In addition, these trains are a much more environmentally friendly mode of transport than airplanes, and the safety of this type of transport, which does not come into contact with the tracks, is higher than that of other trains. They also make virtually no noise.

However, the prospects for maglevs are unclear, because even in China, which has planned to spend more than $300 billion on the construction of high-speed rail in ten years (and double its high-speed rail network by 2020), they are constantly arguing about the feasibility of such a decision.

The peculiarities of the political system (by the way, the Russian authorities can do something similar) allow Beijing to spend money on high-speed transport, without taking into account that the 250 million migrant workers moving around the country cannot afford a trip on a magnetic levitation train. Many high-speed lines that carry wheeled trains are now starved of customers, and almost all are operating at a loss. After the PRC authorities learned, for example, how much it would cost to operate the Maglev line from Shanghai to the airport, the project to build an extension of this road to Guangzhou was postponed (however, it is possible that the project was postponed due to protests from residents living along the future highways).

Initially, it was assumed that transferring passengers to high-speed highways would relieve congestion on conventional roads, which currently transport more than 60 percent of fuel in China. Officials in the PRC pointed out that energy traffic creates incredible traffic jams on Chinese roads surrounding the country's largest economic centers. However, this argument, which, by the way, the Chinese authorities put forward as the main one when launching the high-speed railway construction program, is now most strongly criticized by economists. They point out that the Chinese poor have not taken any high-speed trains, preferring cheap buses instead. As a result, traffic jams on Chinese roads have become even worse.

But even the economically senseless construction of such roads now allows the Chinese authorities to create jobs and later export their technologies abroad. For example, in the USA, where Japan is now also trying to break through with its version of maglevs. In addition, Chinese trains have long been a symbol of China's modernization, and the country's authorities are looking to a future where every Chinese can afford to travel on such a train. Theoretically.

Of course, trains cannot fly over oceans like airplanes. But compared to airplanes, trains are much cheaper and more comfortable, and the view from the window is much more picturesque. The most modern high-speed train can take you from one city to another in a few hours. We have compiled for you a list of the 10 fastest trains in the world.

✰ ✰ ✰

THSR 700T, Taiwan

The THSR 700T is a series of Taiwanese multi-car high-speed trains. The first launch took place on January 5, 2007. This train has an ultra-high-speed route between the cities of Taipei and Kaohsiung. At a maximum speed of 300 km/h. The THSR 700T has managed to reduce travel time between these cities from 4.5 hours to just 90 minutes. The 700T train has 12 cars and is driven by a multi-level, multi-motor system. 9 out of 12 cars are involved in providing the train with energy. This guarantees high speed and space.

The 700T trains are built in Japan by a consortium of three large companies - Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Nippon Sharyo and Hitachi. The powerful 700T engines enable acceleration from 0 to 300 km/h in just 15 minutes. The introduction of European safety requirements has made it possible to expand the safety functions of the 700T - the possibility of bi-directional operations, the presence of an instability detection system, fire and smoke detectors and control stop stations.

Currently, 700T trains are operated in Taiwan on high-speed rail. Each 700T train has one business class car and 11 standard cars. The 700T's business class cabin can accommodate 66 passengers, while the standard class has 923 seats per train. The THSR 700T carriages are soundproof and offer a variety of travel and real-time train information.

✰ ✰ ✰

ETR 500 Frecciarossa Train, Italy

Maximum speed: 300 km/h

The ETR 500 Frecciarossa is the fastest train in Italy and is operated by Trenitalia. The maximum speed of the train is 300 km/h. You can use this train on the Milan-Rome-Naples route, with 72 departures daily. Today there are 28 non-stop Frecciarossa trains between Milan and Rome. At their maximum speed, the Frecciarossa can travel from Milan to Rome in just 2 hours and 40 minutes.

The Frecciarossa train is a modernized version of the Italian high-speed train ETR 500. The Frecciarossa is built by a consortium of manufacturing companies Ansaldobreda, Bombardier and Alstom Frecciarossa. The train consists of four types of carriages - standard class, premium class, business class and executive class. Frecciarossa carriages are soundproofed and have free Wi-Fi.

✰ ✰ ✰

SNCF TGV Duplex, France

The TGV Duplex is considered the fastest train in France; it can travel at a speed of 320 km/h. The train belongs to the railway company SNCF. Such trains first entered service in December 2011. TGV Duplex are double-decker high-speed trains that operate on routes connecting all major cities in France. This is one of the most comfortable European trains and can accommodate 508 passengers.

The double-level TGV trains are manufactured by Alstom. To reduce the weight of the composition, aluminum is used in the production of its body. The TGV Duplex has an eco-friendly design and a recycling rate of 90%. The train's rigid passenger compartments also provide safety in the event of a collision.

On this type of train, passengers are offered three main classes of seats - standard class, first class and TGV Pro. Standard class is equipped with comfortable seats, snack vending machines and a refreshment bar. In first class, you'll get more comfortable seats, separate reading lights, and power outlets for a variety of devices. The TGV Pro class offers additional comfortable and spacious seats, a welcome drink, free Wi-Fi, newspapers and magazines.

✰ ✰ ✰

Alstom Euroduplex, France

Maximum speed: 320 km/h

Euroduplex trains are the third generation of high-speed TGV Duplex trains. Euroduplex is operated by the French railway company SNCF. Such trains connect the railway network of France, Switzerland, Germany and Luxembourg. These multifunctional trains can travel at a maximum speed of 320 km/h.

Euroduplex trains were first launched in December 2011, and one such train can carry 1,020 passengers at a time. Euroduplex trains are developed by the railway company Alstom. Unlike the two previous generations of the Euroduplex train, this version has reduced weight, improved aerodynamics and low energy consumption. The Euroduplex contains monitors with information about the train in real time, one located next to the door to the carriage, and several more inside the carriage itself.

✰ ✰ ✰

E5 Series Shinkansen Hayabusa, Japan

Maximum speed: 320 km/h

The E5 Shinkansen Hayabusa series trains are the fastest in Japan today. They began carrying passengers on March 5, 2011 and are operated by the East Japan Railway Company. These trains carry passengers from Tokyo to the city of Aomori. With a maximum speed of 320 km/h, such a passage covers the distance between these cities in just 2 hours and 56 minutes.

The first carriage of this train has a long 15-meter nose. This design helps minimize noise and vibration when trains travel through tunnels. The Hayabusa train is based on the Fastech 360S high-speed train developed by East Japan Railway Company. These trains have 10 carriages with a total capacity of 731 passengers.

The E5 Shinkansen Hayabusa trains have three main classes - standard, green class and grand class. The train has 658 standard class seats, 55 green class seats and 18 gran class seats. Grand Class is the main attraction of Hayabusa trains. These premium seats provide premium service and luxury amenities such as reclining leather seats, sleep masks, slippers and blankets, while staff will provide soft drinks and food for all passengers.

✰ ✰ ✰

Talgo 350, Spain

Talgo 350 are high-speed trains in Spain, operated by the state-owned railway company. They can reach a maximum speed of 350 km/h. Talgo 350 operates between Madrid and Barcelona. The train has two control cars and 12 passenger cars. In Spain, such trains are called "Pato", after the nose of the first carriage, which resembles a duck's beak. This distinctive design of the Talgo 350 reduces aerodynamics.

The carriages on Talgo 350 trains are divided into four classes - Club class, First class, Bistro class and Divan class. The Talgo 350 has comfortable folding seats with footrests in all classes of carriages. Passengers also have access to video and audio devices in every seat. The train is also equipped with many information panels that operate in real time and are located both inside and outside the cars.

✰ ✰ ✰

Siemens Velaro E/AVS 103, Spain

Maximum speed: 350 km/h

The Velaro E is the Spanish version of the Velaro E high-speed trains developed by the German company Siemens. In Spain, Velaro trains are called AVS 103. Velaro E are used on the Barcelona - Madrid route. The maximum speed of such a train is 350 km/h. The Velaro E train can take passengers from Barcelona to Madrid in just 2 hours and 30 minutes. On this route, the Velaro E reaches a top speed of 403.7 km/h.

Spanish National Railways ordered Velaro E high-speed trains in 2001, and they began serving passengers in June 2007. The train has 8 passenger cars with a total capacity of 404 seats.

✰ ✰ ✰

AVG Italo, Italy

Maximum speed: 360 km/h

AVG Italo is the fastest train in use in Europe. This high-speed multiple unit train has a maximum operating speed of 360 km/h. But during its initial test in 2007, its speed record was set at 574 km/h. These trains were built by the French manufacturing company Alstom. In 2008, the Italian company Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV) ordered 25 AVG trains from Alstom for €650 million.

The first AVG Italo train began service in April 2007 on the route between Rome and Naples. Passengers can travel the distance between these cities in just 1 hour. AVG Italo is a very environmentally friendly train, 98% of its components are recyclable. The train has 11 carriages and seats are divided into three classes - Club, Prima and Smart. All three AVG Italo grades offer adjustable leather seats, live TV and free Wi-Fi.

✰ ✰ ✰

Harmony CRH 380A, China

Maximum speed: 380 km/h

China's Harmony CRH 380A is the second fastest train in the world. This electric multiple unit train can travel at a maximum speed of 380 km/h during commercial operation. But his speed record is 416.6 km per hour during the first tests. China Railways has been using CRH 380A trains on regular Shanghai-Nanjing services since October 2010.

The CRH 380A high-speed trains are manufactured by CSR Qingdao Sifang Locomotive and Rolling Stock. The CRH 380A train is lightweight due to its aluminum alloy body and the front of the first carriage resembling a fish's head. This unusual train design reduces aerodynamic pressure. There is absolutely no vibration felt on the train.

The CRH 380A train can carry 494 passengers at a time. Each of them will be provided with a reading lamp, power ports and an electronic display. There is also a VIP viewing section next to the driver's cabin. An entire carriage in the CRH 380A is dedicated to serving food and beverages to passengers.

✰ ✰ ✰

Shanghai Maglev, China

Top speed: 431 km/h

The Shanghai Maglev is the fastest train in the world with a maximum operating speed of 431 km/h. The train is operated by Shanghai Maglev Transportation Development Co in Shanghai.

Shanghai Maglev operates on a maglev railway line. Unlike conventional train tracks, the Shanghai Maglev does not have wheels and floats on a magnetic field that exists between the train and the railway track.

The Shanghai Maglev reaches its top speed of 431 km/h in just 4 minutes. The 30.5 km route in Shanghai is the only one in the world to operate Maglev. This train was built by Siemens and ThyssenKrupp. Passenger service started on January 1, 2004.

The train route runs between one of the metro stations in Shanghai and Pudong International Airport. This train takes only 7 minutes and 20 seconds to cover the entire distance. The total passenger capacity of the Shanghai Maglev train is 574 people. He travels every 15 minutes. Ticket prices are $8 or $16 for VIP tickets.

✰ ✰ ✰

Conclusion

Just think! The speed of some of these trains is much higher than the speed of a Formula 1 car. One can only envy the residents of those countries where these high-speed trains run! This was an article TOP 10 fastest trains in the world. Thank you for your attention!

If the slowest train takes a passenger to his desired destination, then the journey simply seems like an eternity. But travel time can be significantly reduced and the entire trip can be spent with maximum comfort. To ensure that the journey is not too long and tiring, you should travel on the right railway, along which the fastest train in the world will travel. And which trains claim to be the fastest? Let's take a look at a few contenders that are capable of high speeds and allow passengers to quickly reach their destinations.

This is the fastest maglev train in the world. It was he who surprised the whole world in 2003 with a speed of up to 581 km/h - the train managed to achieve this speed twice during testing. In general, the average speed of this train is approximately 300 km/h. However, among high-speed trains in Japan, it has become a real symbol of reliability and speed - and has remained so for over fifty years.

Another contender for the title of fastest is this French rail train, which can accelerate to almost 575 km/h. The train showed this result during tests in 2007 - thereby setting a kind of world-class record among this type of train. The French are very proud of this train, because they proved that rail trains can reach no less speed than the record holders in this matter - magnetic levitation trains. This train transports passengers from France to Switzerland and Germany, but its speed is on average 320 km/h.

This Chinese rail train managed to reach a speed of 487 km/h during testing. In the class of Chinese serial trains, this train set a world record. In addition to the fact that it develops high speed, it is also considered the most comfortable and safe. It will take only about three hours to travel from Guangzhou to Wuhan, the distance between which is over 1000 km. And the train usually moves at a speed of 350 km/h.

And this train can quite rightly be called the fastest, since it can accelerate to a speed of 500 km/h. The train carries passengers from Tokyo to Aomori and back. Business class carriages, according to passengers, are very similar to the cabin. In addition to high technical characteristics, the Japanese train is environmentally friendly and has an ultra-modern design. The demand for such trains is quite high. They are especially interested in the United States of America, which relies primarily on safety and environmental friendliness when transporting passengers.

This fastest train in Russia, created by Siemens, was acquired by Russian Railways. The train runs on local roads from Moscow to St. Petersburg and in the opposite direction. The maximum speed that Sapsan is capable of is 350 km/h. However, on local roads the train moves at a speed of 200-250 km/h.

Trains created by Siemens are somewhat different from European-made trains. For example, the air intakes on the trains of this manufacturer are located on the roof, which makes it possible to operate the trains at very low temperatures (minus 50 degrees). The Sapsan cabin is slightly wider (30 cm) than the cabins of European-type trains, which is explained by the different gauge of Russian roads and the different dimensions of the rolling stock.