Planned high-speed rail by country
Encyclopedia
This article lists planned or proposed high-speed rail projects, arranged by country. Although many nations have done preliminary feasibility studies, many lines are eventually shelved or postponed due to high cost, and only a few nations of those proposing are actively building high-speed rail lines. Planned or proposed lines are therefore separated here from lines that are under construction, some nations having both. High-speed rail is public transport
by rail
at speeds in excess of 200 km/h (125 mph). For details of proposed or planned extensions or upgrades to existing high-speed rail networks, or details of current high-speed rail networks, see high-speed rail by country
.
200–250 km/h high-speed rail under construction:
300+ km/h high-speed rail under construction:
Possibly raised to 250 km/h later.
Parts of the new built route Drammen - Tønsberg is in operation but with trains capable of 160 km/h. New trains (Stadler FLIRT
) is expected to run at 200 km/h in 2012. The new route is planned to be finished in its entirety in 2015, partly permitting 250 km/h.
to Russia
, Europe
, Central Asia
, India
, and Singapore
via Indochina
.
Russia has proposed to build a high-speed rail link, an oil and gas pipeline, and a fiber optic link to North America via an around 100 km long tunnel under the Bering Strait.
Suggestions exist for tunnels between Europe and Africa, the Strait of Gibraltar crossing
and the Strait of Sicily Tunnel
.
is slated to begin in 2009 from Marrakech
to Tangier
in the north via Marrakesh to Agadir
in the south, and from Casablanca
on the Atlantic to Oujda
on the Algerian border. If the ONCF's Master Plan is pursued, the 1,500 kilometres of track may take until 2035 to complete at a cost of around 25 billion dirhams ($2.87 billion). Travel time from Casablanca to Marrakesh could be cut to 1 hour and 20 minutes from over three hours, and from the capital Rabat
to Tangier to 1 hour and 30 minutes from 4 hours and 30 minutes.
In October 2007 a contract was signed with a consortium led by Alstom
to build a high-speed railway between Kenitra
and Tangier
. On April 9, 2009, agreements were signed between ONCF and SNCF relating to the design, construction, commissioning, use of rolling stock, commercial services to be offered by the high-speed rail link, and maintenance of a 200 km stretch of track allowing a running speed of 320 km/hour.
. The line would reduce the current journey time from 12h to about 3h. The 721 km line would involve major engineering challenges, including traversing the Drakensberg mountains. A high-speed line from Johannesburg to Cape Town is also under study.
China is building high-speed railway network spanning the eastern part of the country. China is also suggesting an international high-speed railway network to Singapore, Central Asia and Europe.
200+ km/h high-speed rail in planning:
in China, a distance of 1920 km. Construction is said to start already during 2011. After the crashes in China its been on hold.
to Abu Dhabi
.
The government of Qatar has announced it intends to have high-speed rail links to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia built in time for its hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
, probably linking the cities of Jakarta
, Bandung
, and Surabaya
. In 2006, the Indonesian Department of Transportation
said that proposals had been submitted by Chinese, French, and German interests. In 2008, it was announced that the Department of Transportation was seeking investors for a 683 km high speed line between Jakarta and Surabaya, expected to cost US$6.14 billion.
A Hydrogen Hi-Speed Rail Super Highway (H2RSH) train to Jakarta
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
is under feasibility study and due for 2012 construction start date. Caedz, LLC a San Francisco based economic re-engineering firm led a consortium of multinational investors signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Indonesian Kadin on December 1, 2009 in Los Angeles, USA.
and Isfahan
, as well as between Tehran
and Mashhad
.
The Tehran-Isfahan HSR has been increased to 350 km/h and the section between Tehran-Qom is going to have a new dedicated alignment for 350 km/h connecting Tehran to Imam Khomeini Airport and to new multi-mode terminal in Qom with connection to Isfahan HSR.
between Baghdad
and Basra
is at the planning stage, with the Iraqi Republic Railways
and Alstom
in discussions, with a decision expected in 2012.
, called Plan A1
, to cut travel time between the two cities to just over 30 minutes (currently over 95 minutes) is under construction by Israel Railways
and expected to begin service in 2017. In addition, the entire railway system is currently undergoing extensive upgrades and planned electrification, so that by early in the next decade, the three major metropolitan areas of Haifa
, Jerusalem, and Beer Sheva which are located on the coast, in the interior, and in the south of the country, respectively, will all be reachable in thirty to forty minutes from the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv. The current speed limit on the national railway system is 150 km/h, though is expected to rise to 160 km/h by 2013. As part of Israel Railways' electrification project (in which about US$3 billion will be invested), portions of the network are to be reconfigured to allow operation at speeds of up to 200 km/h using 25kV 50Hz AC electrification. In spring 2010, the government of Israel instructed Israel Railways to investigate alternative railway alignments that would allow for a 2½ hour rail journey from Tel Aviv to Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba
, which is located at the Southern tip of the country across rugged terrain.
A Japanese consortium led by the Central Japan Railway Company
has been researching new high-speed rail systems based on magnetic levitation
since the 1970s. Although the trains and guideways are technologically ready and over 100,000 people have ridden them, high costs remains as barriers. Test trains JR-Maglev MLX01
on the Yamanashi
Test Line have reached speeds of 581 km/h (361 mph) (crewed), making them the fastest trains in the world. These new maglev trains are intended to be deployed on the new Tokyo – Osaka Shinkansen maglev route, called the Chuo Shinkansen
.
2025 has been selected as the deadline for Nagoya - Tokyo
maglev operation.
Extensions to the current network expansions, notably from Hakodate to Sapporo, are planned but subject to funding constraints and in some cases (particularly the West Kyushu Shinkansen) by local opposition. The route of the final extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen
has not been finalised. It is ultimately to provide a northern route through to Osaka
and China, where it will link to Chinese high speed railways. Construction is said to start already during 2011. Vientiane is located close to the Thai border where are plans of a high speed railway to Bangkok. These plans have been put on hold by China and Thailand has changed its priority routes after its new administration was elected.
- Kuala Lumpur - Singapore line spanning the three nations has been suggested previously, though no action has been taken. Plans for the project were put on hold in April 2008 due to high cost to the government, estimated at about RM8 billion. The project also faces opposition from rail operator rivals such as Keretapi Tanah Melayu
, and the liberalisation of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air route further dampened prospects for the proposal.
In 2007, Siemens
expressed interest in becoming the technology provider for the proposed rail link. By the middle of 2009, YTL again revived talk on the project and expressed hope that the Malaysian government would relook at the proposal, claiming that delays in the project has caused development costs to rise over the years.
In 2010, Malaysia had made a proposal to revive the project. In the new proposal, the route will be in two phases; the first one is from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore while the second phase will be from Kuala Lumpur to Penang
.
will be proposing to the Philippine government of building a bullet train system connecting Laoag City
in the northern part of Luzon
island, passing through Manila
, and finally ending in the Bicol Region
in Southeastern Luzon. With this, the Philippines will be giving Vietnam a challenge as the first Southeast Asian country to build a bullet train system.
to Chiang Mai
(711 km), Nong Khai
(600 km), Chanthaburi
(330 km), and Padang Besar
(983 km). In November, it was reported that the Thai cabinet had approved the plan, with the shorter route to Chanthaburi being intended for construction first. The Total Cost of all routes are 800 billion baht or 25 billion USD.
In October 2010, the Thai parliament approved initial proposals for a high speed rail network to be built with Chinese industrial partners; 5 lines capable of 250 km/h would radiate from Bangkok. After the new election of Shinawatra, plans for Bangkok-Korat and Pattaya-Bangkok-Hua Hin have been pushed over the former 5 routes.
, has proposed a 1630 kilometres (1,013 mi) high-speed rail link between Hanoi
and Ho Chi Minh City
, capable of running at 250 to 300 km/h (155.3 to 186.4 mph). The funding of the $56 billion line would mostly come from the Vietnamese government, with the help of Japanese aid. Technology used on the Japanese Shinkansen
has been suggested to be used for this new railway.
Current technology allows trains travelling on the current, single-track Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City line
to complete the journey in approximately thirty hours. Once completed, the high-speed rail line would have 2 parallel standard gauge
tracks with no direct road crossings, and would allow trains to complete the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City journey in approximately 5 hours. The existing line uses narrow gauge tracks common in Southeast Asia.
Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung had originally set an ambitious target to complete the line by 2013, three years sooner than the previously announced nine year construction time. Later reports suggested Japanese development aid would only be available in stages, with completion of the line not expected until the mid 2030s; the same reports asserted that aid would be conditioned upon the export of Shinkansen technology. On June 19, 2010, after a month of deliberation, Vietnam's National Assembly rejected the high speed rail proposal due to its high cost, leaving the project's future in doubt; National Assembly deputies are said to have asked for further study of the project.
In January 2011, Vietnamese Minister of Transport, Ho Nghia Dung, suggested the line might be completed by 2030. The length of the proposed line was listed as 1555 km long with trains running at 300 km/h. After the rejection of the original plan by the house of deputies, Minister Dung has asked for a new feasibility plan by the end of 2011, whilst the Japanese development agency has suggested an interim solution where the line could be built to separate north and south sections.
The closest 50–100 km from Oslo on each of these lines have good potential for regional trains (except direction Stockholm). Upgrade and new construction to high speed standard have to some extent already taken place like for Gardermobanen
. More is being built and is planned, but with the present ambition it will take decades to have high speed standard the closest 100 km from Oslo on all these lines. The ambition is to some day have 200 km/h or more to Halden, Skien, Hønefoss and Hamar. These projects have higher priority than the long distance projects. They are also preconditions for the long distance projects, since they will be used by long distance trains.
are adapted for speeds up to 250 km/h as Botniabanan
, Grödingebanan, Mälarbanan
, Svealandsbanan
, Västkustbanan
, Vänernbanan (Gothenburg
- Trollhättan
).
The problem that is slowing down high-speed rail in Sweden is the present signaling system (ATC
), which does not allow speeds over 200 km/h. It can be upgraded, but it will not be done since it shall be replaced by the European signaling system ERTMS level 2 on major lines in the near future, allowing high speeds up to 250 km/h. ERTMS level 2 has been installed and is being tried out on Botniabanan
, and that railway allows 250 km/h, although no passenger train goes above 200 for now. The train set X55-Regina
has been ordered by the rail company SJ
with the max speed of 200 km/h but with the option to upgrade the EMU
to 250 km/h when possible. Also the mix with freight trains slow down the practical speed.
There are three major high-speed projects proposed in Sweden with speeds between 250 and 350 km/h, connecting the major Swedish cities and Denmark.
The present-day Swedish Conservative government shows little interest in major railway projects in the Budget of 2011. There is no funding for Trafikverket, The Swedish Infrastructure Agency, to build Ostlänken or Götalandsbanan before 2021.
. The line will link London & Birmingham in phase 1. The line will then be extended to Manchester, Leeds and possibly Scotland in phase 2.
The UK currently has four lines with a permitted speed of 200 km/h or more. These are the:
The Midland Main Line
is due to have a speed enhancement by Network Rail
in the near future to 200 km/h (125 mph).
does not currently have high-speed rail
lines, there have been two routes frequently proposed as suitable for a high-speed rail corridor:
A possible international high-speed rail link between Montreal
and Boston
or New York City
is often discussed by regional leaders, though little progress has been made. On another international line between Vancouver
and Seattle, work is in progress to improve the existing Amtrak Cascades
service, though it will not reach speeds normally associated with high-speed rail
proposed a high-speed rail link that would transport passengers from Mexico City
to Guadalajara
, Jalisco
, with stops in the cities of Querétaro
, Guanajuato
, Leon
and Irapuato; and a connected line running from the port city of Manzanillo
to Aguascalientes
. The train which would travel at 300 km/h allows passengers to travel from Mexico City to Guadalajara in just 2 hours at an affordable price (the same trip by road would last 7 hours). The network would also connect the network to Monterrey
, Chilpancingo
, Cuernavaca
, Toluca
, Puebla
, Tijuana
, Hermosillo
, Cordoba
, Veracruz
, Oaxaca
, Colima
, Zacatecas
, Torreon
, Chihuahua, Puebla
, San Luis Potosi
, Mexicali
Saltillo
and Acapulco
by 2015. The whole project was projected to cost 240 billion pesos, or about 25 billion dollars. Mexican billionaire Carlos Helú
expressed an interest in investing in high speed rail.. Most recently the Yucatan
Peninsula in Mexico has highlighted as one of the most probable areas for the development of high speed rail in Latin America with the Transpeninsular Fast Train for bidding in september 2011.
Acela Express
trains are the only true high-speed trainsets in the United States. Amtrak
uses them on a high-speed
service between Washington, D.C.
and Boston via New York City
and Philadelphia
along the Northeast Corridor
(NEC) in the Northeast United States. The tilting
design allows the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved NEC without disturbing passengers, by lowering lateral forces.
There has been a resurgence of interest in recent decades, with many plans being examined for high-speed rail across the country:
was planned, operating at speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph). Construction was scheduled to begin in 2008 and work was expected to take around four years, but the project is currently "on hold" due to the financial crisis.
The project would join the cities of Buenos Aires
and Rosario
at a distance of 286 km (177.7 mi) and Córdoba
at a distance of 710 km (441.2 mi).
Other projected high speed rail lines include:
and Rio de Janeiro
is currently under development. The high-speed line is expected to be operational by 2014. The Rio-São Paulo High Speed rail ' onMouseout='HidePop("80787")' href="/topics/Abbreviation">Abbreviation
: TAV RJ-SP) is a high-speed rail project with the purpose of connecting Brazil
's two largest metropolis
es: São Paulo
and Rio de Janeiro
. The high-speed line is expected to be operational by 2014, at a cost of over $9 billion.
Planned:
Track gauge: (standard gauge
)
(except for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway which use 15 kV, and old Italian, part of Belgian and part of Russian high speed lines which use 3 kV), a majority left-hand running (except in Germany, Spain, Russia, etc.) and almost all use standard gauge
(except in Finland, Russia etc.) on their high speed lines, even where the national gauge is different. This will enhance interoperability should high speed lines in different countries meet. There are many different train protection systems in use. In Europe, however they will be replaced by the ERTMS/ETCS system in most countries (using standard gauge
) before 2020, which will further enhance interoperability.
Public transport
Public transport is a shared passenger transportation service which is available for use by the general public, as distinct from modes such as taxicab, car pooling or hired buses which are not shared by strangers without private arrangement.Public transport modes include buses, trolleybuses, trams...
by rail
Rail transport
Rail transport is a means of conveyance of passengers and goods by way of wheeled vehicles running on rail tracks. In contrast to road transport, where vehicles merely run on a prepared surface, rail vehicles are also directionally guided by the tracks they run on...
at speeds in excess of 200 km/h (125 mph). For details of proposed or planned extensions or upgrades to existing high-speed rail networks, or details of current high-speed rail networks, see high-speed rail by country
High-speed rail by country
This article provides of a list of operating High-speed rail networks, listed by country. High-speed rail is public transport by rail at speeds of at least 200 km/h for updated track and or faster for new track . The article also includes any planned expansion of existing high-speed rail...
.
Morocco
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenitra-Tangier high-speed rail line Kenitra-Tangier high-speed rail line The Kenitra-Tangier high-speed rail line is a high-speed rail line under construction in Morocco. It is the first part of a planned line from Tangier to Casablanca. It was announced in November 2007 by the national government. Initially the project was announced as being between Tangier and... |
320 km/h | 200 km | June 2010 | December 2015 |
China
China plans to finish construction of 13,000 km of high speed railway lines using the latest technology by the end of 2011, and 25,000 km by 2015. As of February 2011, 8,358 km is in service, about 17,000 km under construction, and more is planned.200–250 km/h high-speed rail under construction:
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Longyan–Xiamen | 200 km/h | 171 km | 2006-12-25 | 2011 |
| Xiamen–Shenzhen | 250 km/h | 502 km | 2007-11-23 | 2011 |
| Xiangtang–Putian | 200 km/h | 604 km | 2007-11-23 | September 2011 |
| Wuhan–Yichang Hanyi Railway Hanyi Railway , or Hankou-Yichang Railway, is a railway currently being constructed between Hankou and Yichang in the Chinese province of Hubei. It will be a section of the future Huhanrong Passenger Dedicated Line from Shanghai to Wuhan to Chengdu... |
200 km/h | 293 km | 2008-09-17 | January 2012 |
| Nanning–Guangzhou | 200 km/h | 577 km | 2008-11-09 | 2013 |
| Liuzhou–Nanning | 250 km/h | 226 km | 2008-12-27 | 2012 |
| Chongqing–Lichuan Yuli Railway The Chongqing-Lichuan Railway, or the Yuli Railway is a railway under construction in the Chinese province of Hubei and the municipality of Chongqing.... |
200 km/h | 264 km | 2008-12-29 | 2012 |
| Chengdu–Mianyang–Leshan | 200 km/h | 319 km | 2008-12-30 | December 2012 |
| Suining–Chongqing Second Track | 200 km/h | 132 km | 2009-01-18 | 2012 |
| Maoming–Zhanjiang | 200 km/h | 103 km | 2009-03-21 | December 2011 |
| Wuhan–Xiaogan, Huangshi, Xianning, Huanggang | 200–250 km/h | 160 km | 2009-03-22 | 2011–2013 |
| Dongguan–Huizhou | 200 km/h | 97 km | 2009-05-08 | October 2012 |
| Guangzhou–Foshan–Zhaoqing | 200 km/h | 87 km | 2009-09-29 | 2012 |
| Hefei–Fuzhou | 250 km/h | 806 km | 2009-12-22 | 2014 |
| Ganzhou–Longyan | 200 km/h | 274 km | 2009-12-29 | 2013 |
| Zhengzhou–Jiaozuo | 200 km/h | 77 km | 2009-12-29 | 2013 |
| Zhengzhou–Kaifeng | 200 km/h | 50 km | 2009-12-29 | 2013 |
| Zhengzhou–Xinzheng Airport | 200 km/h | 49 km | 2009-12-29 | 2013 |
| Chengdu–Kunming New Line | 200 km/h | 737 km | 2010-01-16 | 2014 |
| Jinhua–Wenzhou Upgrade | 200 km/h | 188 km | 2010-01-19 | 2013 |
| Qingdao–Rongcheng | 250 km/h | 299 km | 2010-03-17 | September 2013 |
| Shenyang–Dandong | 250 km/h | 208 km | 2010-03-17 | March 2014 |
| Dandong–Dalian | 200 km/h | 159 km | 2010-03-17 | 2013 |
| Tianjin–Baoding | 250 km/h | 159 km | 2010-03-21 | 2014 |
| Chengsha–Zhuzhou–Xiangtan | 200 km/h | 96 km | 2010-06-30 | 2014 |
| Jilin–Hunchun | 250 km/h | 378 km | 2010-06-30 | 2014 |
| Chengdu–Pujiang | 200 km/h | 99 km | 2010-10-16 | 2013 |
| Chongqing–Guiyang | 250 km/h | 345 km | 2010-12-22 | 2015 |
| Fuzhou–Pingtan | 200 km/h | 90 km | 2010-12-25 | 2015 |
| Nanping–Sanming–Longyan | 250 km/h | 247 km | 2010-12-25 | 2015 |
| Chengdu–Guiyang | 250 km/h | 486 km | 2010-12-26 | 2015 |
| Lanzhou–Zhongchuan Airport | 250 km/h | 63 km | 2010-12-27 | 2013 |
| Chengdu–Lanzhou | 200 km/h | 462 km | 2011-02-26 | 2014 |
| Zhangjiakou–Hohhot | 250 km/h | 286 km | 2011-02-28 | 2015 |
| Hohhot-Ordos-Zhungeer | 200 km/h | 174 km | Unknown | 2015 |
| Chongqing-Changsha | 250 km/h | Unknown km | 2011 | 2015 |
| Guangxi Coastal Railway | 250 km/h | 262 km | April 26, 2011 | 2012 |
300+ km/h high-speed rail under construction:
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbin–Dalian Harbin–Dalian High-Speed Railway The Harbin–Dalian High-Speed Railway is a high-speed rail line connecting Harbin and Dalian, in China. Construction work began on August 23, 2007. The line is set to open in October 2011. The project costs CN¥92.3 billion.- References :... |
350 km/h | 904 km | 2007-08-23 | 2011 |
| Xi'an–Chengdu Xi'an–Chengdu High-Speed Railway Xi'an–Chengdu High-Speed Railway or Xicheng Passenger Dedicated Line or Xihancheng Passenger Dedicated Line, is a dual-track, electrified, high-speed rail line, under construction in Western China between Xi'an and Chengdu. It will run 510 km through Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces and will... |
250–350 km/h | 511 km | 2010-11-10 | 2014 |
| Guangzhou–Shenzhen Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link The Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Hong Kong Section is a proposed high speed railway connecting Kowloon with the high-speed rail network of China at Shenzhen... (2014 for the Futian Station in Shenzhen's CBD) |
350 km/h | 140 km | 2008 August 20 | 2012 |
| Beijing–Shijiazhuang | 350 km/h | 278 km | 2008-10-07 | 2012 |
| Guizhou–Guangzhou | 350 km/h | 858 km | 2008-10-13 | 2014 |
| Shijiazhuang–Wuhan | 350 km/h | 838 km | 2008-10-15 | 2012 |
| Tianjin–Qinhuangdao | 350 km/h | 258 km | 2008-11-08 | 2012 |
| Nanjing–Hangzhou | 350 km/h | 249 km | 2008-12-27 | 2011 |
| Nanjing–Anqing | 350 km/h | 257 km | 2008-12-28 | June 2012 |
| Hefei–Bengbu | 350 km/h | 131 km | 2009-01-08 | 2012 |
| Hangzhou–Ningbo | 350 km/h | 150 km | 2009-04-01 | 2012 |
| Harbin–Qiqihar | 350 km/h | 286 km | 2009-07-05 | 2012 |
| Tianjin–Tanggu | 350 km/h | 45 km | 2009-10-01 | 2011 |
| Hangzhou–Changsha | 350 km/h | 927 km | 2009-12-22 | 2014 |
| Chengdu–Chongqing Chengdu–Chongqing High-Speed Railway The Chengdu–Chongqing High-Speed Railway is a long high-speed railway that will connect the cities of Chengdu and Chongqing in southwestern China, with a planned maximum speed of 350 km/h... |
350 km/h | 308 km | 2010-03-22 | 2014 |
| Lanzhou–Urumqi | 350 km/h | 1776 km | 2009-11-04 | December 2013 |
| Xi'an–Baoji Xi'an–Baoji High-Speed Railway The Xi'an–Baoji High-Speed Railway is a high-speed railway under construction between Xi'an and Baoji, in China. Construction work started on December 11, 2009, the railway is expected to open in 2012. The total investment of the project is estimated to be CN¥17.967 billion.- References :... |
350 km/h | 148 km | 2009-11-28 | 2012 |
| Datong–Xi'an | 250–350 km/h | 859 km | 2009-12-03 | 2014 |
| Chongqing–Wanzhou | 350 km/h | 250 km | 2010-12-22 | 2013 |
Hong Kong
Preparation works are on the way for the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Hong Kong Section, which will include one station and a 26-km tunnel to connect the territory with the neighbouring high-speed railway network of the People's Republic of China. It will run entirely underground and is designed for a maximum speed of 200 km/h. Funding was approved by the territory's legislature in January 2010. It is expected to be open in 2016 by the earliest.| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link Hong Kong Section | 200 km/h | 26 km | 2010 | 2016 |
Japan
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hokkaido Shinkansen Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a high-speed rail line currently under construction between Aomori and Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May 2005, and the initial Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate section is projected to open in 2015. There are long-term plans to extend the line to Sapporo... |
360 km/h | 148.9 km | May 2005 | April 2016. Note 360 km/h on the Tohoku Shinkansen Tohoku Shinkansen The is a Japanese high-speed Shinkansen rail line, connecting Tokyo with Aomori in Aomori Prefecture for a total length of 674 km, Japan's longest Shinkansen line. It runs through the more sparsely populated Tōhoku region of Japan's main island Honshu. It has two spur lines, Yamagata... line and 300 km/h on the Hokkaido Shinkansen Hokkaido Shinkansen The is a high-speed rail line currently under construction between Aomori and Hokkaido through the Seikan Tunnel. Construction started in May 2005, and the initial Shin-Aomori to Shin-Hakodate section is projected to open in 2015. There are long-term plans to extend the line to Sapporo... line. |
| Hokuriku Shinkansen Hokuriku Shinkansen The is a high-speed Shinkansen rail line under construction in Japan. The first section, between and , currently called the Nagano Shinkansen, opened on 1 October 1997.-Future:... |
260 km/h | 228 km | 2004 | April 2015 |
| Chuo Shinkansen Chuo Shinkansen The is a planned maglev line connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan. The only part of the line that exists is the Yamanashi test track, which is currently being extended from 18.4 km to 42.8 km. The line is proposed to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in the first stage in 40 minutes, and eventually... |
500 km/h | 438 km | 1999 test track (partial), 2014 (principal) | 2027 (2045 to Osaka) |
South Korea
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honam Line (KTX) | 350 km/h | 230.99 km | 2009 | 2017 |
Saudi Arabia
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Haramain High Speed Rail Project Haramain High Speed Rail Project The Haramain High Speed Rail project also known as the "Western Railway", is a high speed inter-city Rail transport system under construction in Saudi Arabia. It will link the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca via King Abdullah Economic City, Rabigh, Jeddah and King Abdulaziz International... |
320 km/h | 444 km | March 2009 | November 2012 |
| Hofuf – Riyadh | 200 km/h | Unknown | Unknown | Mid 2012 |
Taiwan (Republic of China)
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail Taiwan High Speed Rail is a high-speed rail line that runs approximately along the west coast of the Republic of China from the national capital of Taipei to the southern city of Kaohsiung... extension to Nangang Station Nangang Station Nangang Station is a major train station located in Nangang, Taipei, Taiwan, parallel to Zhongxiao East Road. The station serves several modes of public transportation, including the bus system, Taiwan Railway Administration, and Taipei Metro... |
Unknown km/h | 3.27 km | 2009 November 28 | October 2012 |
Uzbekistan
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tashkent–Samarkand high-speed rail line Tashkent–Samarkand high-speed rail line The Tashkent to Samarkand high-speed rail line is a , high-speed rail, connection between the two largest Uzbek cities of Tashkent and Samarkand and through four provinces: Tashkent, Sirdaryo, Jizzakh and Samarqand in Uzbekistan... |
average 170 km/h including stops using Talgo 250 | 344 km | 2011 | 2011 |
Austria
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austrian Western Railway Austrian Western Railway The Empress Elisabeth Railway was the name of a former railway company during the time of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Today, the term is still used to refer to the railway lines that were formerly operated by that company.... |
250 km/h | 312.2 km | Unknown | Unknown |
| Brenner Base Tunnel Brenner Base Tunnel The Brenner Base Tunnel is a planned long railway tunnel through the base of the Brenner massif. It will run from Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof in Austria to Franzensfeste in Italy, replacing part of the current Brenner railway... |
250 km/h | 56 km | Summer 2006 | 21 December 2025 |
| New Lower Inn Valley railway | 250 km/h | 40.236 km | Unknown | 2012 |
| Koralm Railway Koralm Railway The Koralm railway is a proposed 125 km long two track, electrified, high-speed railway link under construction connecting the Austrian cities of Graz and Klagenfurt... |
200 km/h | 125 km | 2001 | 2022 |
Bulgaria
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Svilengrad Svilengrad Svilengrad is a town in Haskovo Province, South-central Bulgaria, situated at the border of Turkey and Greece. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous Svilengrad Municipality. As of December 2009, the town has a population of 18,132 inhabitants.... -Turkish Border |
200 km/h | 19 km | 2010 | Unknown |
France
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LGV Rhin-Rhône LGV Rhin-Rhône The LGV Rhin-Rhône is a high-speed railway line composed of three different branches:* The Eastern branch, from Genlis, near Dijon to Lutterbach, near Mulhouse* The Western branch, crossing Dijon, joining the LGV Sud-Est near Montbard... |
350 km/h | 190 km | 3 July 2006 | 11 December 2011 |
| LGV Est LGV Est The LGV Est européenne is an extension to the French high-speed rail network, connecting currently Vaires-sur-Marne and Baudrecourt , and later Vaires-sur-Marne and Vendenheim . , it is the newest high-speed line in France and still under construction, with of a planned in service... Phase 2 |
350 km/h | 106 km | June 2010 | 2016 |
Germany
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle high-speed railway | 300 km/h | 123 km | October 1996 | 2015 |
| Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway | 300 km/h | 190 km | 1996 | 2017 |
Greece
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patras - Athens - Thessaloniki | 200 km/h | ≈570 km | ≈2000 | 2014 |
Possibly raised to 250 km/h later.
Norway
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drammen - Tønsberg | 200–250 km/h | ≈63 km | 1993 | 2012–2015 |
Parts of the new built route Drammen - Tønsberg is in operation but with trains capable of 160 km/h. New trains (Stadler FLIRT
Stadler FLIRT
Stadler FLIRT is an electric multiple unit produced by Stadler Rail AG. The articulated trainset comes in units of two to six cars with two to six motorized axles. The maximum speed is 200 km/h...
) is expected to run at 200 km/h in 2012. The new route is planned to be finished in its entirety in 2015, partly permitting 250 km/h.
Portugal
| Line | Speed | Length | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon-Madrid high-speed rail line | 350 km/h | 640 km | 2013 |
| Lisbon-Porto high speed rail line | 300 km/h | 292 km | 2017 |
| Porto-Vigo high-speed rail line | 250 km/h | 125 km | 2015 |
Spain
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basque Y Basque Y Basque Y is the name given to the Spanish high-speed rail network being built between the three cities of the Basque Country autonomous community; Bilbao, Vitoria-Gasteiz and Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.-Characteristics:... |
230 km/h | 194 km | 2006 | 2013–2015 |
| Mediterranean High Speed Corridor: Andalusia Andalusia Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and... –Murcia Region of Murcia The Region of Murcia is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southeast of the country, between Andalusia and Valencian Community, on the Mediterranean coast.... –Valencia Valencian Community The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia... –Catalonia Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an... –French border |
300~350 km/h | +1300km | 2016–2020–2030 | |
| Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... –(Cáceres Cáceres, Spain Cáceres is the capital of the same name province, in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. , its population was 91,131 inhabitants. The municipio has a land area of 1,750.33 km², and is the largest in geographical extension in Spain.... –Mérida Mérida, Spain Mérida is the capital of the autonomous community of Extremadura, western central Spain. It has a population of 57,127 . The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1993.- Climate :... –Badajoz Badajoz Badajoz is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain, situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana, and the Madrid–Lisbon railway. The population in 2007 was 145,257.... )–Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban... |
350 km/h | 640 km | Unknown | 2013 |
| L.A.V. Levante | Unknown km/h | 940 km | Unknown | Unknown |
| L.A.V. Valladolid Valladolid Valladolid is a historic city and municipality in north-central Spain, situated at the confluence of the Pisuerga and Esgueva rivers, and located within three wine-making regions: Ribera del Duero, Rueda and Cigales... –Burgos Burgos Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León... –Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz Vitoria-Gasteiz is the capital city of the province of Álava and of the autonomous community of the Basque Country in northern Spain with a population of 235,661 people. It is the second largest Basque city... |
Unknown km/h | Unknown km | 2009 | 2015 |
| L.A.V. Venta de Baños–León León, Spain León is the capital of the province of León in the autonomous community of Castile and León, situated in the northwest of Spain. Its city population of 136,985 makes it the largest municipality in the province, accounting for more than one quarter of the province's population... –Gijón Gijón Gijón , officially Gijón / Xixón, is a coastal industrial city and a municipality in the autonomous community of Asturias in Spain. Early mediaeval texts mention it as "Gigia". It was an important regional Roman city, although the area has been settled since earliest history... |
Unknown km/h | Unknown km | Unknown | 2013 |
| L.A.V. Olmedo–Zamora Zamora, Spain Zamora is a city in Castile and León, Spain, the capital of the province of Zamora. It lies on a rocky hill in the northwest, near the frontier with Portugal and crossed by the Duero river, which is some 50 km downstream as it reaches the Portuguese frontier... –Galicia |
Unknown km/h | Unknown km | Unknown | 2015 |
| L.A.V. Seville Seville Seville is the artistic, historic, cultural, and financial capital of southern Spain. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia and of the province of Seville. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir, with an average elevation of above sea level... –Cádiz Cádiz Cadiz is a city and port in southwestern Spain. It is the capital of the homonymous province, one of eight which make up the autonomous community of Andalusia.... |
250 km/h | 157 km | Unknown | 2012 |
| Eixo Atlántico de Alta Velocidade | Unknown km/h | Unknown km | Unknown | 2012 |
| Eje Ferroviario Transversal | 250–350 km/h | 503 km | 2006 | 2013–2015 |
| L.A.V. Madrid Madrid Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan... -Santander Santander, Cantabria The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:... |
Unknown km/h | Unknown km | Unknown | 2015 |
Sweden
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Göteborg-Trollhättan | 250 km/h first years 200 km/h |
82 km | 2004 | 2012 |
Turkey
| Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ankara Ankara Ankara is the capital of Turkey and the country's second largest city after Istanbul. The city has a mean elevation of , and as of 2010 the metropolitan area in the entire Ankara Province had a population of 4.4 million.... - Sivas |
250 km/h | 446 km | February 2009 | Unknown |
| Eskişehir Eskisehir Eskişehir is a city in northwestern Turkey and the capital of the Eskişehir Province. According to the 2009 census, the population of the city is 631,905. The city is located on the banks of the Porsuk River, 792 m above sea level, where it overlooks the fertile Phrygian Valley. In the nearby... -İstanbul Istanbul Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and... |
250 km/h | 291.4 km | 2008 | partly 2013 |
Trans-Continental
The Chinese government proposed building a network of trans-Eurasian high-speed railways connecting from ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
via Indochina
Indochina
The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...
.
Russia has proposed to build a high-speed rail link, an oil and gas pipeline, and a fiber optic link to North America via an around 100 km long tunnel under the Bering Strait.
Suggestions exist for tunnels between Europe and Africa, the Strait of Gibraltar crossing
Strait of Gibraltar crossing
A Strait of Gibraltar crossing is a hypothetical bridge or tunnel spanning the Strait of Gibraltar that would connect Europe to Africa.The Spanish and Moroccan governments appointed a a to investigate the feasibility of linking the two continents...
and the Strait of Sicily Tunnel
Strait of Sicily Tunnel
The Tunnel under the Strait of Sicily is a proposed megaproject to link Sicily and Tunisia. The distance between the coastlines is about and would be reached by five tunnels constructed between four intermediate artificial islands which will be built with the excavated material...
.
Algeria
In March 2011, contracts were awarded for a 66 km (41 mi) section of railway between Oued Tlélat and the Moroccan border. Running speeds will be 220 km/h (137 mph).Morocco
Work by ONCFONCF
ONCF or ONCFM is Morocco's national railway operator. The Office employs around 9,767 employees and has a network of 1,907 km, all standard gauge...
is slated to begin in 2009 from Marrakech
Marrakech
Marrakech or Marrakesh , known as the "Ochre city", is the most important former imperial city in Morocco's history...
to Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
in the north via Marrakesh to Agadir
Agadir
Agadir is a major city in southwest Morocco, capital of the Agadir province and the Sous-Massa-Draa economic region .-Etymology:...
in the south, and from Casablanca
Casablanca
Casablanca is a city in western Morocco, located on the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital of the Grand Casablanca region.Casablanca is Morocco's largest city as well as its chief port. It is also the biggest city in the Maghreb. The 2004 census recorded a population of 2,949,805 in the prefecture...
on the Atlantic to Oujda
Oujda
Oujda is a city in eastern Morocco with an estimated population of 1 million. The city is located about 15 kilometers west of Algeria and about 60 kilometers south of the Mediterranean Sea. It is the capital of the Oriental Region of Morocco and the birthplace of the current Algerian president,...
on the Algerian border. If the ONCF's Master Plan is pursued, the 1,500 kilometres of track may take until 2035 to complete at a cost of around 25 billion dirhams ($2.87 billion). Travel time from Casablanca to Marrakesh could be cut to 1 hour and 20 minutes from over three hours, and from the capital Rabat
Rabat
Rabat , is the capital and third largest city of the Kingdom of Morocco with a population of approximately 650,000...
to Tangier to 1 hour and 30 minutes from 4 hours and 30 minutes.
In October 2007 a contract was signed with a consortium led by 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...
to build a high-speed railway between Kenitra
Kenitra
Kenitra is a city in Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey. It is a port on the Sebou River, has a population in 2004 of 359,142 and is the capital of the Gharb-Chrarda-Béni Hssen region. During the Cold War Kenitra's U.S...
and Tangier
Tangier
Tangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
. On April 9, 2009, agreements were signed between ONCF and SNCF relating to the design, construction, commissioning, use of rolling stock, commercial services to be offered by the high-speed rail link, and maintenance of a 200 km stretch of track allowing a running speed of 320 km/hour.
South Africa
On the 7th of June, 2010, Minister of Transport Sbusiso Ndebele said that plans were seriously being considered for a high-speed line from Johannesburg to DurbanJohannesburg-Durban High Speed Rail
In April 2010, the South African Minister of Transport proposed a Johannesburg-Durban high speed rail system. There are concerns about the cost and engineering difficulty of the project, which would have to cross the Drakensberg mountains. but the minister repeated proposals in June 2010...
. The line would reduce the current journey time from 12h to about 3h. The 721 km line would involve major engineering challenges, including traversing the Drakensberg mountains. A high-speed line from Johannesburg to Cape Town is also under study.
China
200+ km/h high-speed rail in planning:
| Line | Speed | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Harbin–Jiamusi | 250 km/h | 345 km |
| Beijing–Zhangjiakou | 250 km/h | 174 km |
| Chengdu–Kunming | 250 km/h | 737 km |
| Baoji–Lanzhou Baoji–Lanzhou High-Speed Railway The Baoji–Lanzhou High-Speed Railway is a proposed high-speed railway between Baoji and Lanzhou, in China. The railway will cut the rail travel between Baoji and Lanzhou from current five hours to one hour and a half... |
350 km/h | 401 km |
| Beijing–Shenyang | 350 km/h | 708 km |
| Shijiazhuang–Jinan | 350 km/h | 319 km |
| Zhengzhou–Xuzhou Zhengzhou–Xuzhou High-Speed Railway The Zhengzhou–Xuzhou High-Speed Railway is a proposed high-speed rail line connecting the cities of Zhengzhou and Xuzhou, in China.The length of the line is 362.39 kilometers and the investment is estimated to be CN¥48.62 billion... |
350 km/h | 343 km |
| Hangzhou–Huangshan | 350 km/h | 265 km |
| Nanning–Pingxiang Nanning-Pingxiang High-Speed Line The Nanning-Pingxiang High-Speed Line is a planned high-speed railway between Pingxiang and Nanning in southern China. The route would connect to railways in northern Vietnam, and this line is seen as the first stage of a high-speed network reaching as far as Singapore.Rather than being a central... |
? | ? |
| Lianyungang–Xuzhou | ? | 183 km |
| Harbin–Mudanjiang | 250 km/h | 293 km |
| Zhangjiakou–Datong | ? | ? |
| Shenzhen–Maoming | 250 km/h | 372 km |
| Zhengzhou–Chongqing | 350 km/h | ? |
| Xi'an–Wuhan | 350 km/h | ? |
Burma
Plans have been published to build a high speed railway between Rangoon and KunmingKunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
in China, a distance of 1920 km. Construction is said to start already during 2011. After the crashes in China its been on hold.
Gulf Cooperation Council
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia) plan a 2200 km rail network, Etihad Railway, which may include high speed rail from DubaiDubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
to Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi , literally Father of Gazelle, is the capital and the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates in terms of population and the largest of the seven member emirates of the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi lies on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central western...
.
The government of Qatar has announced it intends to have high-speed rail links to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia built in time for its hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Indonesia
Indonesian authorities have expressed an interest in high-speed rail for the densely-populated island of JavaJava
Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...
, probably linking the cities of Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
, Bandung
Bandung
Bandung is the capital of West Java province in Indonesia, and the country's third largest city, and 2nd largest metropolitan area in Indonesia, with a population of 7.4 million in 2007. Located 768 metres above sea level, approximately 140 km southeast of Jakarta, Bandung has cooler...
, and Surabaya
Surabaya
Surabaya is Indonesia's second-largest city with a population of over 2.7 million , and the capital of the province of East Java...
. In 2006, the Indonesian Department of Transportation
Department of Transportation, Indonesia
The Ministry of Transportation , formerly Department of Transportation or Departemen Perhubungan, is a government ministry responsible for the governance and regulation of transport in Indonesia. The Ministry is located in Jakarta.-See also:*Government of Indonesia*Transport in Indonesia*Angkasa...
said that proposals had been submitted by Chinese, French, and German interests. In 2008, it was announced that the Department of Transportation was seeking investors for a 683 km high speed line between Jakarta and Surabaya, expected to cost US$6.14 billion.
A Hydrogen Hi-Speed Rail Super Highway (H2RSH) train to Jakarta
Jakarta
Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
Soekarno-Hatta International Airport
Soekarno–Hatta International Airport , popularly abbreviated SHIA or Soetta is the main airport serving the greater Jakarta area on the island of Java, Indonesia. The airport is named after the first President of Indonesia, Soekarno, and the first vice-president, Mohammad Hatta. The airport is...
is under feasibility study and due for 2012 construction start date. Caedz, LLC a San Francisco based economic re-engineering firm led a consortium of multinational investors signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Indonesian Kadin on December 1, 2009 in Los Angeles, USA.
Iran
There are two high-speed rail line projects in Iran, between TehranTehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
and Isfahan
Isfahan (city)
Isfahan , historically also rendered in English as Ispahan, Sepahan or Hispahan, is the capital of Isfahan Province in Iran, located about 340 km south of Tehran. It has a population of 1,583,609, Iran's third largest city after Tehran and Mashhad...
, as well as between Tehran
Tehran
Tehran , sometimes spelled Teheran, is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With an estimated population of 8,429,807; it is also Iran's largest urban area and city, one of the largest cities in Western Asia, and is the world's 19th largest city.In the 20th century, Tehran was subject to...
and Mashhad
Mashhad
Mashhad , is the second largest city in Iran and one of the holiest cities in the Shia Muslim world. It is also the only major Iranian city with an Arabic name. It is located east of Tehran, at the center of the Razavi Khorasan Province close to the borders of Afghanistan and Turkmenistan. Its...
.
The Tehran-Isfahan HSR has been increased to 350 km/h and the section between Tehran-Qom is going to have a new dedicated alignment for 350 km/h connecting Tehran to Imam Khomeini Airport and to new multi-mode terminal in Qom with connection to Isfahan HSR.
Iraq
A 650 km (403.9 mi), 250 km/h (155 mph) lineBaghdad–Basra high-speed rail line
The Baghdad–Basra high-speed rail line is a proposed high-speed rail line that is planned to operate between the cities of Baghdad and Basra in Iraq.-Announcement:...
between Baghdad
Baghdad
Baghdad is the capital of Iraq, as well as the coterminous Baghdad Governorate. The population of Baghdad in 2011 is approximately 7,216,040...
and Basra
Basra
Basra is the capital of Basra Governorate, in southern Iraq near Kuwait and Iran. It had an estimated population of two million as of 2009...
is at the planning stage, with the Iraqi Republic Railways
Iraqi Republic Railways
Iraqi Republic Railways Company ' is the national railway operator in Iraq.-Network:...
and 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...
in discussions, with a decision expected in 2012.
Israel
Israel currently has no high-speed trains, with all traction provided by diesel-based equipment. A new rail line between Jerusalem and Tel AvivTel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, called Plan A1
High-speed railway to Jerusalem
The high-speed railway to Jerusalem is a railway line from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Israel, under construction since 2001. It is set to be completed in 2017...
, to cut travel time between the two cities to just over 30 minutes (currently over 95 minutes) is under construction by Israel Railways
Israel Railways
Israel Railways is the principal passenger railway operating company in Israel, and is responsible for all inter-city and suburban rail way passenger and freight traffic in the country. All its lines are standard gauge. The network is centered in Israel's densely populated coastal plain, from...
and expected to begin service in 2017. In addition, the entire railway system is currently undergoing extensive upgrades and planned electrification, so that by early in the next decade, the three major metropolitan areas of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
, Jerusalem, and Beer Sheva which are located on the coast, in the interior, and in the south of the country, respectively, will all be reachable in thirty to forty minutes from the Mediterranean coastal city of Tel Aviv. The current speed limit on the national railway system is 150 km/h, though is expected to rise to 160 km/h by 2013. As part of Israel Railways' electrification project (in which about US$3 billion will be invested), portions of the network are to be reconfigured to allow operation at speeds of up to 200 km/h using 25kV 50Hz AC electrification. In spring 2010, the government of Israel instructed Israel Railways to investigate alternative railway alignments that would allow for a 2½ hour rail journey from Tel Aviv to Eilat on the Gulf of Aqaba
Gulf of Aqaba
The Gulf of Aqaba is a large gulf located at the northern tip of the Red Sea. In pre twentieth-century and modern sources it is often named the Gulf of Eilat, as Eilat is its predominant Israeli city ....
, which is located at the Southern tip of the country across rugged terrain.
Japan
Central Japan Railway Company
The is the main railway company operating in the Chūbu region of central Japan. It is officially abbreviated in English as JR Central and in Japanese as . Its headquarters are located in the JR Central Towers in Nakamura-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture.The company's operational hub is Nagoya Station...
has been researching new high-speed rail systems based on magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation
Magnetic levitation, maglev, or magnetic suspension is a method by which an object is suspended with no support other than magnetic fields...
since the 1970s. Although the trains and guideways are technologically ready and over 100,000 people have ridden them, high costs remains as barriers. Test trains JR-Maglev MLX01
JR-Maglev
JR-Maglev is a magnetic levitation train system developed by the Central Japan Railway Company and Railway Technical Research Institute . JR-Maglev MLX01 is one of the latest designs of a series of Maglev trains in development in Japan since the 1970s...
on the Yamanashi
Yamanashi Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Kōfu.-Pre-history to the 14th century:People have been living in the Yamanashi area for about 30,000 years...
Test Line have reached speeds of 581 km/h (361 mph) (crewed), making them the fastest trains in the world. These new maglev trains are intended to be deployed on the new Tokyo – Osaka Shinkansen maglev route, called the Chuo Shinkansen
Chuo Shinkansen
The is a planned maglev line connecting Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, Japan. The only part of the line that exists is the Yamanashi test track, which is currently being extended from 18.4 km to 42.8 km. The line is proposed to connect Tokyo and Nagoya in the first stage in 40 minutes, and eventually...
.
2025 has been selected as the deadline for Nagoya - Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
maglev operation.
Extensions to the current network expansions, notably from Hakodate to Sapporo, are planned but subject to funding constraints and in some cases (particularly the West Kyushu Shinkansen) by local opposition. The route of the final extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen
Hokuriku Shinkansen
The is a high-speed Shinkansen rail line under construction in Japan. The first section, between and , currently called the Nagano Shinkansen, opened on 1 October 1997.-Future:...
has not been finalised. It is ultimately to provide a northern route through to Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
Laos
Plans have been published to build a high speed railway between VientianeVientiane
-Geography:Vientiane is situated on a bend of the Mekong river, which forms the border with Thailand at this point.-Climate:Vientiane features a tropical wet and dry climate with a distinct monsoon season and a dry season. Vientiane’s dry season spans from November through March. April marks the...
and China, where it will link to Chinese high speed railways. Construction is said to start already during 2011. Vientiane is located close to the Thai border where are plans of a high speed railway to Bangkok. These plans have been put on hold by China and Thailand has changed its priority routes after its new administration was elected.
Malaysia and Singapore
A high-speed rail running at 300 km/h (186 mph) to link Kuala Lumpur and Singapore was proposed in 2006 by YTL Corporation, operator of the KLIA Express in Malaysia, although the company did propose a similar system back in the late 1990s. A BangkokBangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
- Kuala Lumpur - Singapore line spanning the three nations has been suggested previously, though no action has been taken. Plans for the project were put on hold in April 2008 due to high cost to the government, estimated at about RM8 billion. The project also faces opposition from rail operator rivals such as Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Keretapi Tanah Melayu
Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad or Malayan Railways Limited is the main rail operator in Peninsular Malaysia. The railway system dates back to the British colonial era, when it was first built to transport tin...
, and the liberalisation of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air route further dampened prospects for the proposal.
In 2007, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
expressed interest in becoming the technology provider for the proposed rail link. By the middle of 2009, YTL again revived talk on the project and expressed hope that the Malaysian government would relook at the proposal, claiming that delays in the project has caused development costs to rise over the years.
In 2010, Malaysia had made a proposal to revive the project. In the new proposal, the route will be in two phases; the first one is from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore while the second phase will be from Kuala Lumpur to Penang
Penang
Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...
.
Philippines
San Miguel CorporationSan Miguel Corporation
Established in 1890 as a brewery, San Miguel Corporation is Southeast Asia's largest publicly listed food, beverage and packaging company with over 17,000 employees in over 100 major facilities throughout the Asia-Pacific....
will be proposing to the Philippine government of building a bullet train system connecting Laoag City
Laoag City
The City of Laoag is a 1st class city in the province of Ilocos Norte, Philippines. It is the capital city of Ilocos Norte, and the province's political, commercial, and industrial hub. It is the location of the Ilocos region's only commercial airport...
in the northern part of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
island, passing through Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, and finally ending in the Bicol Region
Bicol Region
The Bicol Region or Bicolandia is one of the 17 regions of the Philippines. Its regional center is Legazpi City...
in Southeastern Luzon. With this, the Philippines will be giving Vietnam a challenge as the first Southeast Asian country to build a bullet train system.
Taiwan (Republic of China)
Stations at Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin are planned to open in 2015, there are plans to link to Kaohsiung station from Zuoying Station.Thailand
The State Railway of Thailand and the Thai Ministry of Transport have plans for several high speed rail lines. In October 2009, it was reported that funding was being sought for four lines, linking BangkokBangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...
to Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai sometimes written as "Chiengmai" or "Chiangmai", is the largest and most culturally significant city in northern Thailand. It is the capital of Chiang Mai Province , a former capital of the Kingdom of Lanna and was the tributary Kingdom of Chiang Mai from 1774 until 1939. It is...
(711 km), Nong Khai
Nong Khai
Nong Khai is a city in North-East Thailand and is the capital of the Nong Khai Province...
(600 km), Chanthaburi
Chanthaburi
Chanthaburi ) is a town in the east of Thailand, at the banks of the Chanthaburi River. It is the capital of the Chanthaburi Province and the Mueang Chanthaburi district....
(330 km), and Padang Besar
Padang Besar (Thailand)
Padang Besar is a border town of the Malaysia-Thailand border in the Sadao district, Songkhla province, Thailand. Since 2004 the municipality has had town status and covers parts of the subdistrict Padang Besar. In 2007 it had a population of 13,748.There is a road and rail border crossing into...
(983 km). In November, it was reported that the Thai cabinet had approved the plan, with the shorter route to Chanthaburi being intended for construction first. The Total Cost of all routes are 800 billion baht or 25 billion USD.
In October 2010, the Thai parliament approved initial proposals for a high speed rail network to be built with Chinese industrial partners; 5 lines capable of 250 km/h would radiate from Bangkok. After the new election of Shinawatra, plans for Bangkok-Korat and Pattaya-Bangkok-Hua Hin have been pushed over the former 5 routes.
Vietnam
Vietnam's national railway company, Vietnam RailwaysVietnam Railways
The railway system in Vietnam is operated by the state-owned Vietnam Railways . The principal route is the thousand-mile single track North-South Railway line, running between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. This was built at the metre gauge in the 1880s during the French colonial rule...
, has proposed a 1630 kilometres (1,013 mi) high-speed rail link between Hanoi
Hanoi
Hanoi , is the capital of Vietnam and the country's second largest city. Its population in 2009 was estimated at 2.6 million for urban districts, 6.5 million for the metropolitan jurisdiction. From 1010 until 1802, it was the most important political centre of Vietnam...
and Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City , formerly named Saigon is the largest city in Vietnam...
, capable of running at 250 to 300 km/h (155.3 to 186.4 mph). The funding of the $56 billion line would mostly come from the Vietnamese government, with the help of Japanese aid. Technology used on the Japanese Shinkansen
Shinkansen
The , also known as THE BULLET TRAIN, is a network of high-speed railway lines in Japan operated by four Japan Railways Group companies. Starting with the Tōkaidō Shinkansen in 1964, the network has expanded to currently consist of of lines with maximum speeds of , of Mini-shinkansen with a...
has been suggested to be used for this new railway.
Current technology allows trains travelling on the current, single-track Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City line
North-South Railway, Vietnam
The Vietnam North-South Railway, also known as the Reunification Express, is a railway that runs from Ha Noi to Ho Chi Minh City. The total length of this railway is , with a gauge of metre gauge...
to complete the journey in approximately thirty hours. Once completed, the high-speed rail line would have 2 parallel standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
tracks with no direct road crossings, and would allow trains to complete the Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City journey in approximately 5 hours. The existing line uses narrow gauge tracks common in Southeast Asia.
Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung had originally set an ambitious target to complete the line by 2013, three years sooner than the previously announced nine year construction time. Later reports suggested Japanese development aid would only be available in stages, with completion of the line not expected until the mid 2030s; the same reports asserted that aid would be conditioned upon the export of Shinkansen technology. On June 19, 2010, after a month of deliberation, Vietnam's National Assembly rejected the high speed rail proposal due to its high cost, leaving the project's future in doubt; National Assembly deputies are said to have asked for further study of the project.
In January 2011, Vietnamese Minister of Transport, Ho Nghia Dung, suggested the line might be completed by 2030. The length of the proposed line was listed as 1555 km long with trains running at 300 km/h. After the rejection of the original plan by the house of deputies, Minister Dung has asked for a new feasibility plan by the end of 2011, whilst the Japanese development agency has suggested an interim solution where the line could be built to separate north and south sections.
Denmark
- CopenhagenCopenhagenCopenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
to RingstedRingstedRingsted, a city in Ringsted municipality, is in the middle of the Danish island of Zealand. The municipal population is about 31,000 and the city population is 21,151 .Ringsted is approximately 60 km from Copenhagen.-Modern hotspot:...
: Planned to open in 2018, the 60 kilometres (37.3 mi) route will initially run at 200 km/h, but higher speeds are planned later.
Italy
- Brenner Base TunnelBrenner Base TunnelThe Brenner Base Tunnel is a planned long railway tunnel through the base of the Brenner massif. It will run from Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof in Austria to Franzensfeste in Italy, replacing part of the current Brenner railway...
- In March 2011, a contract for the second phase of construction on the Milan - Verona high speed line was signed. This section will be 39 km long. Construction should be complete by 2015.
Norway
- The Norwegian government is currently examining fives lines radiating out from Oslo to Bergen, Kristiansand/Stavanger, Trondheim, Göteborg, and Stockholm. A sixth line would be a costal line between Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger. At least two investigations on cost and benefit have been made. A more indepth analysis covering route analysis of the 6 lines will be made on order by the Norwegian government beginning late 2010.
The closest 50–100 km from Oslo on each of these lines have good potential for regional trains (except direction Stockholm). Upgrade and new construction to high speed standard have to some extent already taken place like for Gardermobanen
Gardermobanen
The Gardermoen Line is a high-speed railway line between Oslo and Eidsvoll, Norway, running past Lillestrøm and Oslo Airport, Gardermoen. The line is long and replaced the older Hoved Line as the main line north-east of Oslo...
. More is being built and is planned, but with the present ambition it will take decades to have high speed standard the closest 100 km from Oslo on all these lines. The ambition is to some day have 200 km/h or more to Halden, Skien, Hønefoss and Hamar. These projects have higher priority than the long distance projects. They are also preconditions for the long distance projects, since they will be used by long distance trains.
Poland
- Warsaw to Poznań and Wrocław via Łódź
- Warszawa-Toruń-Gdańsk high-speed railway
Russia
Formal studies will be complete on the new Moscow-St.Petersberg line by the start of 2011 due to congestion between Moscow and St.Petersberg. The line is expected to be 660 km long and support speeds of up to 400 km/h. The expected journey time would be 2h 30ms. It is expected the line will include stops at both St.Petersberg and Moscow region airports.Sweden
Many of the newly built railway lines in SwedenSweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
are adapted for speeds up to 250 km/h as Botniabanan
Botniabanan
The Bothnia Line is a high-speed railway line in northern Sweden. The long route, from Kramfors airport via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå, was opened in 2010 and will carry trains at speeds up to .-Introduction:...
, Grödingebanan, Mälarbanan
Mälarbanan
The Mälaren Line is a railway line from Stockholm via Västerås to Örebro in Sweden. The section from Stockholm to Kolbäck and from Valskog to Arboga has double track. The line was upgraded to high-speed in 2005. The line is mostly used by passenger trains, although it is also served by some...
, Svealandsbanan
Svealandsbanan
Svealandsbanan is the Swedish name of the Svealand Railway, which runs between Södertälje and Valskog via Mariefred Läggesta, Strängnäs and Eskilstuna. The length is 115 km....
, Västkustbanan
Västkustbanan
The West Coast Line is a railway line between Gothenburg and Lund, which runs along the West Coast of Sweden....
, Vänernbanan (Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
- Trollhättan
Trollhättan
Trollhättan is a city and the seat of Trollhättan Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 44,498 inhabitants in 2005. It is located 75 km north of Sweden's second-largest city, Gothenburg....
).
The problem that is slowing down high-speed rail in Sweden is the present signaling system (ATC
Automatic Train Control
Automatic Train Control is a train protection system for railways, ensuring the safe and smooth operation of trains on ATC-enabled lines. Its main advantages include making possible the use of cab signalling instead of track-side signals and the use of smooth deceleration patterns in lieu of the...
), which does not allow speeds over 200 km/h. It can be upgraded, but it will not be done since it shall be replaced by the European signaling system ERTMS level 2 on major lines in the near future, allowing high speeds up to 250 km/h. ERTMS level 2 has been installed and is being tried out on Botniabanan
Botniabanan
The Bothnia Line is a high-speed railway line in northern Sweden. The long route, from Kramfors airport via Örnsköldsvik to Umeå, was opened in 2010 and will carry trains at speeds up to .-Introduction:...
, and that railway allows 250 km/h, although no passenger train goes above 200 for now. The train set X55-Regina
Regina (train)
The Regina is a Swedish model of electric multiple unit passenger train, manufactured by Bombardier Transportation . It is used by the national passenger railway SJ along with numerous regional and private operators, in variants designated X50, X51, X52, X53, X54 and X55, and in two- and...
has been ordered by the rail company SJ
SJ AB
SJ is a government-owned passenger train operator in Sweden. SJ was created in 2000, out of the public transport division of Statens Järnvägar, when the former government agency was divided into six separate government-owned limited companies.-Overview:SJ's operations fall broadly into subsidised...
with the max speed of 200 km/h but with the option to upgrade the EMU
Electric multiple unit
An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
to 250 km/h when possible. Also the mix with freight trains slow down the practical speed.
- Norrbotniabanan is a future major rail project that will be built for 250 km/h with mixed passenger and freight traffic in northern Sweden, mainly to relieve the highly congested and old single track Main Line Through Upper Norrland and increase freight traffic.
There are three major high-speed projects proposed in Sweden with speeds between 250 and 350 km/h, connecting the major Swedish cities and Denmark.
- OstlänkenOstlänkenOstlänken is a planned high-speed railway in Sweden, intended to run from Södertälje to Linköping, where the routes to Göteborg and Malmö/Copenhagen diverge....
: JärnaJärnaJärna is a locality situated in Södertälje Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 6284 inhabitants in 2005.Järna has long been the centre of the anthroposophical movement in Sweden, and there is a private clinic, several schools and other institutions affiliated with the movement...
– LinköpingLinköpingLinköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
, which would relieve the congested and slow conventional main lines on the stretch Järna-Linköping, Södra stambananSödra stambananThe Southern Main Line is a long electrified railway between Malmö and Katrineholm in Sweden. The first parts of the line opened in 1856 between Malmö and Lund, and the last parts in 1874. The line entirely consists of double track...
. - GötalandsbananGötalandsbananGötalandsbanan is a planned high-speed railway planned to be built between Södertälje and Gothenburg in Sweden, past Linköping and Jönköping. The planned length is about 440 km...
: Gothenburg - JönköpingJönköping-Notable people:*Lillian Asplund, RMS Titanic survivor*John Bauer, illustrator, painter*Amy Diamond, singer*Agnetha Fältskog, ABBA*Carl Henrik Fredriksson, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Eurozine*Anders Gustafsson, kayaker, Olympian...
- LinköpingLinköpingLinköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
on to Stockholm via Ostlänken. It would reduce travel time Gothenburg-Stockholm from 3.05 h to 2h. - EuropabananEuropabananEuropabanan is a planned high-speed railway planned to be built between Jönköping and Helsingborg in Sweden, with a connection to Hässleholm. The speed is planned to be 320 km/h...
: Jönköping – HelsingborgHelsingborgHelsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
. Possibly extended to Helsingör (Tunnel under OresundOresundThe Sound , is the strait that separates the Danish island Zealand from the southern Swedish province of Scania. Its width is just at the narrowest point between Helsingør, Denmark, and Helsingborg, Sweden...
) and Copenhagen. Europabanan has not been prospected by Trafikverket yet.
The present-day Swedish Conservative government shows little interest in major railway projects in the Budget of 2011. There is no funding for Trafikverket, The Swedish Infrastructure Agency, to build Ostlänken or Götalandsbanan before 2021.
United Kingdom
The British government is currently planning the UKs second high speed line, High Speed 2High Speed 2
High Speed 2 is a proposed high-speed railway between London and the Midlands, the North of England, and potentially at a later stage the central belt of Scotland. The project is being developed by High Speed Two Ltd, a company established by the British government...
. The line will link London & Birmingham in phase 1. The line will then be extended to Manchester, Leeds and possibly Scotland in phase 2.
The UK currently has four lines with a permitted speed of 200 km/h or more. These are the:
- High Speed 1 (300 km/h, 186 mph)
- East Coast Main LineEast Coast Main LineThe East Coast Main Line is a long electrified high-speed railway link between London, Peterborough, Doncaster, Wakefield, Leeds, York, Darlington, Newcastle and Edinburgh...
(200 km/h, 125 mph) - West Coast Main LineWest Coast Main LineThe West Coast Main Line is the busiest mixed-traffic railway route in Britain, being the country's most important rail backbone in terms of population served. Fast, long-distance inter-city passenger services are provided between London, the West Midlands, the North West, North Wales and the...
(200 km/h, 125 mph) - Great Western Main LineGreat Western Main LineThe Great Western Main Line is a main line railway in Great Britain that runs westwards from London Paddington station to the west of England and South Wales. The core Great Western Main Line runs from London Paddington to Temple Meads railway station in Bristol. A major branch of the Great...
(200 km/h, 125 mph)
The Midland Main Line
Midland Main Line
The Midland Main Line is a major railway route in the United Kingdom, part of the British railway system.The present-day line links London St...
is due to have a speed enhancement by Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
in the near future to 200 km/h (125 mph).
Canada
Although CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
does not currently have high-speed rail
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
lines, there have been two routes frequently proposed as suitable for a high-speed rail corridor:
- Edmonton to Calgary via Red DeerRed Deer, AlbertaRed Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. It is Alberta's third-most-populous city – after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills...
- WindsorWindsor, OntarioWindsor is the southernmost city in Canada and is located in Southwestern Ontario at the western end of the heavily populated Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. It is within Essex County, Ontario, although administratively separated from the county government. Separated by the Detroit River, Windsor...
to Quebec CityQuebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
via LondonLondon, OntarioLondon is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, situated along the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor. The city has a population of 352,395, and the metropolitan area has a population of 457,720, according to the 2006 Canadian census; the metro population in 2009 was estimated at 489,274. The city...
, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal
A possible international high-speed rail link between Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
and Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
or New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
is often discussed by regional leaders, though little progress has been made. On another international line between Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Seattle, work is in progress to improve the existing Amtrak Cascades
Amtrak Cascades
The Amtrak Cascades is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in partnership with the states of Washington and Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States and the province of British Columbia in Canada...
service, though it will not reach speeds normally associated with high-speed rail
Mexico
The Secretariat of Communications and Transport of MexicoMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
proposed a high-speed rail link that would transport passengers from Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to Guadalajara
Guadalajara, Jalisco
Guadalajara is the capital of the Mexican state of Jalisco, and the seat of the municipality of Guadalajara. The city is located in the central region of Jalisco in the western-pacific area of Mexico. With a population of 1,564,514 it is Mexico's second most populous municipality...
, Jalisco
Jalisco
Jalisco officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is located in Western Mexico and divided in 125 municipalities and its capital city is Guadalajara.It is one of the more important states...
, with stops in the cities of Querétaro
Santiago de Querétaro
Santiago de Querétaro is the capital and largest city of the state of Querétaro, located in central Mexico. It is located 213 km northwest of Mexico City, 96 km southeast of San Miguel de Allende and 200 km south of San Luis Potosí...
, Guanajuato
Guanajuato
Guanajuato officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Guanajuato is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 46 municipalities and its capital city is Guanajuato....
, Leon
León, Guanajuato
The city of León, formally León de los Aldama is the sixth most populous city in Mexico and the first in the state of Guanajuato. It is also the seat of the municipality of León...
and Irapuato; and a connected line running from the port city of Manzanillo
Manzanillo, Colima
The name Manzanillo refers to the city as well as its surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Colima. The city, located on the Pacific Ocean, contains Mexico's busiest port. Manzanillo was the third port created by the Spanish in the Pacific during the New Spain period...
to Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes
Aguascalientes is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 11 municipalities and its capital city is Aguascalientes....
. The train which would travel at 300 km/h allows passengers to travel from Mexico City to Guadalajara in just 2 hours at an affordable price (the same trip by road would last 7 hours). The network would also connect the network to Monterrey
Monterrey
Monterrey , is the capital city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León in the country of Mexico. The city is anchor to the third-largest metropolitan area in Mexico and is ranked as the ninth-largest city in the nation. Monterrey serves as a commercial center in the north of the country and is the...
, Chilpancingo
Chilpancingo
Chilpancingo de los Bravo is the capital and second-largest city of the state of Guerrero, Mexico. It is located at . In the 2005 census the population of the city was 166,796. Its surrounding municipality, of which it is municipal seat, had a population of 214,219 persons...
, Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca
Cuernavaca is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. It was established at the archeological site of Gualupita I by the Olmec, "the mother culture" of Mesoamerica, approximately 3200 years ago...
, Toluca
Toluca
Toluca, formally known as Toluca de Lerdo, is the state capital of Mexico State as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. It is the center of a rapidly growing urban area, now the fifth largest in Mexico. It is located west-southwest of Mexico City and only about 40 minutes by car to the...
, Puebla
Puebla
Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....
, Tijuana
Tijuana
Tijuana is the largest city on the Baja California Peninsula and center of the Tijuana metropolitan area, part of the international San Diego–Tijuana metropolitan area. An industrial and financial center of Mexico, Tijuana exerts a strong influence on economics, education, culture, art, and politics...
, Hermosillo
Hermosillo
Hermosillo is a city and municipality located centrally in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. It is the capital and main economic center for the state and region. It contains almost all of the state's manufacturing and has thirty percent of its population...
, Cordoba
Córdoba, Veracruz
Córdoba, officially known as Heroica Córdoba, is a city and the seat of the municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Veracruz. It was founded in 1618....
, Veracruz
Veracruz
Veracruz, formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave , is one of the 31 states that, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is...
, Oaxaca
Oaxaca
Oaxaca , , officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, comprise the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 571 municipalities; of which 418 are governed by the system of customs and traditions...
, Colima
Colima
Colima is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, make up the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It shares its name with its capital and main city, Colima....
, Zacatecas
Zacatecas
Zacatecas officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Zacatecas is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is Zacatecas....
, Torreon
Torreón
Torreón is a city and seat of the surrounding municipality of the same name in the Mexican state of Coahuila. As of 2010, the city's population was 608,836 with 639,629 in the municipality. The metropolitan population, including Matamoros, Coahuila, and Gómez Palacio and Lerdo in adjacent Durango,...
, Chihuahua, Puebla
Puebla
Puebla officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 217 municipalities and its capital city is Puebla....
, San Luis Potosi
San Luis Potosí
San Luis Potosí officially Estado Libre y Soberano de San Luis Potosí is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 58 municipalities and its capital city is San Luis Potosí....
, Mexicali
Mexicali
Mexicali is the capital of the State of Baja California, seat of the Municipality of Mexicali, and 2nd largest city in Baja California. The City of Mexicali has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the population of the entire metropolitan area reaches 936,826.The city...
Saltillo
Saltillo
Saltillo is the capital city of the northeastern Mexican state of Coahuila and the municipal seat of the municipality of the same name. The city is located about 400 km south of the U.S. state of Texas, and 90 km west of Monterrey, Nuevo León....
and Acapulco
Acapulco
Acapulco is a city, municipality and major sea port in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific coast of Mexico, southwest from Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semi-circular bay and has been a port since the early colonial period of Mexico’s history...
by 2015. The whole project was projected to cost 240 billion pesos, or about 25 billion dollars. Mexican billionaire Carlos Helú
Carlos Slim Helú
Carlos Slim Helú is a Mexican business magnate and philanthropist who as of 2011 is the richest person in the world, for the second year in a row...
expressed an interest in investing in high speed rail.. Most recently the Yucatan
Yucatán
Yucatán officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Yucatán is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 106 municipalities and its capital city is Mérida....
Peninsula in Mexico has highlighted as one of the most probable areas for the development of high speed rail in Latin America with the Transpeninsular Fast Train for bidding in september 2011.
United States
Acela Express
The Acela Express is Amtrak's high-speed rail service along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States between Washington, D.C., and Boston via Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York...
trains are the only true high-speed trainsets in the United States. Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
uses them on a high-speed
High-speed rail
High-speed rail is a type of passenger rail transport that operates significantly faster than the normal speed of rail traffic. Specific definitions by the European Union include for upgraded track and or faster for new track, whilst in the United States, the U.S...
service between Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
and Boston via New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Philadelphia
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
along the Northeast Corridor
Northeast Corridor
The Northeast Corridor is a fully electrified railway line owned primarily by Amtrak serving the Northeast megalopolis of the United States from Boston in the north, via New York to Washington, D.C. in the south, with branches serving other cities...
(NEC) in the Northeast United States. The tilting
Tilting train
A tilting train is a train that has a mechanism enabling increased speed on regular rail tracks. As a train rounds a curve at speed, objects inside the train experience centrifugal force. This can cause packages to slide about or seated passengers to feel squashed by the outboard armrest due to...
design allows the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved NEC without disturbing passengers, by lowering lateral forces.
There has been a resurgence of interest in recent decades, with many plans being examined for high-speed rail across the country:
- In 2002, the Texas High Speed Rail & Transportation Corporation http://www.thsrtc.com (THSRTC), a grass roots organization dedicated to bringing high speed rail to TexasTexasTexas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, was established. In 2006, American AirlinesAmerican AirlinesAmerican Airlines, Inc. is the world's fourth-largest airline in passenger miles transported and operating revenues. American Airlines is a subsidiary of the AMR Corporation and is headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas adjacent to its largest hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport...
and Continental AirlinesContinental AirlinesContinental Airlines was a major American airline now merged with United Airlines. On May 3, 2010, Continental Airlines, Inc. and UAL, Inc. announced a merger via a stock swap, and on October 1, 2010, the merger closed and UAL changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc...
formally joined THSRTC in an effort to bring high speed rail to Texas as a passenger collector system for the airlines. - A route from Chicago to the NEC/Philadelphia via the Keystone Corridor HSR system is also under study.
- The California High-Speed RailCalifornia high-speed railThe California High-Speed Rail project is a planned future high-speed rail system in the state of California and headed by the California High-Speed Rail Authority . Initial funding for the project was approved by California voters on November 4, 2008, with the passage of Proposition 1A...
Authority was created in 1996 by the state to implement an extensive 800 miles (1,287.5 km) rail system that is estimated to cost about $40 billion. Once built, the system will not require operating subsidies, and it is expected to generate $1 billion in annual profits. Construction has been approved with the passing of proposition 1A, in which a $9.95 billion general obligation bond was authorized by voters. The system would provide high-speed service between and among major cities, like SacramentoSacramento, CaliforniaSacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
, San FranciscoSan Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, Los AngelesLos Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
, and San DiegoSan Diego, CaliforniaSan Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...
, and would allow travel between Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
' Union Station and San Francisco's Transbay Terminal in two and a half hours. On the 2nd of December 2010, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced the first section of the Californian High-Speed Rail network had been selected and construction is due to start in 2012. The line will run from near Madera south to Corcoran, with stations at Fresno and Hanford, at a length of 105 km running through a rural part of the San Joaquin Valley. The line will connect with traditional Amtrak lines at each end. In December 2010, that funding was doubled after the newly elected governors of Ohio and Wisconsin decided to cancel right of way projects which had been allocated $1.2bn of funding by the federal government. Of that amount, $616m was then granted to California in addition to funding already promised, which, when combined with a state bond issue to match the new funding, provided over $1.2bn in addition funding. This will be used to add an additional 88 km of track, bringing the line to the edge of Bakerfield. - Desert XpressDesert XpressDesertXpress is a proposal to build a privately-funded high speed rail passenger train from Victorville, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada.- Overview :...
proposes 125 to 150 M.P.H. electric trainsElectric multiple unitAn electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages, using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number of the carriages...
running between Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. - In September 2010 Amtrak unveiled proposals for 355 km/h trains to run between Washington DC and Boston, stopping at various cities along the way including Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. The end to end journey time would be 3h. The proposals would cost $117bn and would take 25 years to complete. Amtrak estimates that the capacity would be needed, as even after current investment programmes, the Acela trains will be full by 2030. The proposal envisages completion by 2040.
Australia
There have been several proposals to develop a HSR line between Sydney and Canberra (via SYD airport and CBR airport) to link the two cities and to provide an effective second airport for Sydney. The line is also proposed to eventually continue on to Melbourne (also possibly via MEL airport). It is worth noting that the SYD-MEL air traffic corridor is one of the busiest in the world, HSR would allow for journey times city center to city center quicker than flights plus associated procedures and travel. Another proposal is to have this line further continue on to Adelaide.Argentina
A Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railwayBuenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railway
The Buenos Aires–Rosario–Córdoba high-speed railway is a project designed to link the Argentine cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba through a high-speed rail network. The plan, announced by President Néstor Kirchner during a press conference at the Casa Rosada on 26 April 2006, would be...
was planned, operating at speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph). Construction was scheduled to begin in 2008 and work was expected to take around four years, but the project is currently "on hold" due to the financial crisis.
The project would join the cities of Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
and Rosario
Rosario
Rosario is the largest city in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. It is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the western shore of the Paraná River and has 1,159,004 residents as of the ....
at a distance of 286 km (177.7 mi) and Córdoba
Córdoba, Argentina
Córdoba is a city located near the geographical center of Argentina, in the foothills of the Sierras Chicas on the Suquía River, about northwest of Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Córdoba Province. Córdoba is the second-largest city in Argentina after the federal capital Buenos Aires, with...
at a distance of 710 km (441.2 mi).
Other projected high speed rail lines include:
- Buenos Aires-Mar del Plata (400 km [250 mi]): A new line to the seaside beach resort city and major fishing port of Mar del PlataMar del PlataMar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
, 400 km (248.5 mi) south of Buenos Aires city is in the planning stages. - Buenos Aires-Mendoza (1200 km [750 mi]) (Planned).
Brazil
A high-speed rail connecting São PauloSão Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
is currently under development. The high-speed line is expected to be operational by 2014. The Rio-São Paulo High Speed rail ' onMouseout='HidePop("80787")' href="/topics/Abbreviation">Abbreviation
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
: TAV RJ-SP) is a high-speed rail project with the purpose of connecting Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
's two largest metropolis
Metropolis
A metropolis is a very large city or urban area which is a significant economic, political and cultural center for a country or region, and an important hub for regional or international connections and communications...
es: São Paulo
São Paulo
São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil, the largest city in the southern hemisphere and South America, and the world's seventh largest city by population. The metropolis is anchor to the São Paulo metropolitan area, ranked as the second-most populous metropolitan area in the Americas and among...
and Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
. The high-speed line is expected to be operational by 2014, at a cost of over $9 billion.
Planned:
- Brasilia - Goiania - Rio Verde - Itumbiara - Uberlandia - Uberaba - Ribeirao Preto - Campinas - São Paulo - Rio de Janeiro (1200 km).
- Belo Horizonte - São Paulo (594 km).
- Curitiba - São Paulo (410 km).
- Santos - São Paulo (80 km).
- Brasília - Goiânia (200 km).
Track gauge: (standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
)
Standards
Most of the above high speed lines are assumed to be 25 kV AC25 kV AC
The 25 kV Alternating current railway electrification system is commonly used in railways worldwide, especially for high-speed rail.-Overview:This electrification system is ideal for railways that cover long distances and/or carry heavy traffic...
(except for Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway which use 15 kV, and old Italian, part of Belgian and part of Russian high speed lines which use 3 kV), a majority left-hand running (except in Germany, Spain, Russia, etc.) and almost all use standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
(except in Finland, Russia etc.) on their high speed lines, even where the national gauge is different. This will enhance interoperability should high speed lines in different countries meet. There are many different train protection systems in use. In Europe, however they will be replaced by the ERTMS/ETCS system in most countries (using standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
) before 2020, which will further enhance interoperability.