High-speed rail is a type of passenger

Passenger

A passenger is a term broadly used to describe any person who travels in a vehicle, but bears little or no responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination....

 rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union

European Union

The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 include 200 km/h (124 mph) for upgraded track and 250 km/h (155 mph) or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S. Department of Transportation defines it as "reasonably expected to reach sustained speeds of more than 125 mph (201 km/h), " although the Federal Railroad Administration

Federal Railroad Administration

The Federal Railroad Administration is an agency in the United States Department of Transportation. The agency was created by the Department of Transportation Act of 1966...

 uses a definition of above 110 mph (177 km/h).

Actual maximum commercial speed is about 300 km/h (186 mph) for majority of national high speed railways (Japan, China, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, UK), and about 400 km/h (249 mph) for Maglev trains.

High speed trains travels at their maximum speed on specific tracks, generally using standard gauge (except Russia), with no at-grade crossings, and few curves.

The world record for conventional high-speed rail is held by the V150, a specially configured and heavily modified version of Alstom

Alstom

Alstom is a large multinational conglomerate which holds interests in the power generation and transport markets. According to the company website, in the years 2010-2011 Alstom had annual sales of over €20.9 billion, and employed more than 85,000 people in 70 countries. Alstom's headquarters are...

's TGV

TGV

The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....

 which clocked 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) on a test run.