High-speed rail (HSR) is a type of passenger train that can move up to 355 km/h (221 miles/h) at a minimum and up to 200 km/h (124 miles/h), while some have reached faster speeds. High-speed rail networks are present in more than 20 countries, most of which are in Asia and Europe. For journeys up to roughly 1,000 kilometers (620 miles), high-speed rail travel in Asia and Europe is a competitive substitute for air travel, according to transportation researchers.

History

Japan's 515-kilometer (320-mile) Shinkansen line, which connected Tokyo and Ōsaka ahead of the 1964 Summer Olympics, was the country's first high-speed rail system. Widespread praise from throughout the world met its debut, and the Shinkansen was soon called the "bullet train" due to its rapid speed and aerodynamic design bullet shape of their noses. Many innovations, such as the use of pre-stressed concrete ties and 1.6-km- (1-mile-) long welded sections of track, were introduced in the line’s construction.

The remarkable high-speed rail system in Japan served as a catalyst for the technology's global dissemination. Between Rome and Florence, Italy saw the opening of Europe's first high-speed rail route in 1977. In 1981, France came next, offering service between Lyon and Paris. American-built turbo trains ran between Montreal and Toronto in Canada throughout the 1970s until being discontinued. On a portion of the Seoul-Pusan route, Korean high-speed rail was first developed in 2004. The full line was finished in 2010. In order to connect the Channel Tunnel with London and enable even more international passenger travel between mainland Europe and the United Kingdom, the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL), also known as High Speed 1, was opened in 2007. The Al Boraq line in 2018 connecting Casablanca and Tangier in Morocco, gave Africa its first high-speed railway. There are no high-speed rail lines operating in Latin America.

China, did not have high-speed rail at the beginning of the twenty-first century, rapidly expanded these trains and is currently the global leader in this field of transportation. All of the major megacity clusters in the nation are connected by high-speed rail, which has a network of lines spanning around 38,000 km (24,000 miles). By 2035, China wants to have about 70,000 km (43,000 miles) of high-speed rail. The Chinese Communist Party, which is in control, has emphasized the country's advancement in technology, economic might, and standard of living by highlighting the country's successful development of modern transportation.

Although the United States has taken measures to construct high-speed rail dating back to the 1960s, the country has struggled to develop high-speed rail on a broad basis, focusing more money on highways than trains. The High-Speed Ground Transportation Act was created by Congress in 1965 with the intention of creating and showcasing high-speed ground technologies. But the program was essentially a failure. In the 1970s, turbo trains ran between Boston and New York City before being discontinued. In the middle of the 1980s, French-designed vehicles were still in use in New York State but had also been phased out. America possessed just one high-speed rail line in the first quarter of the twenty-first century, the Acela in the Northeast, which connected Boston and Washington, D.C. 

The Acela can go up to 241 km/h (150 miles per hour), in certain places, although structural issues with the line prevent trains from traveling that fast the entire distance. These include several bridges and tunnels that are older than 100 years, bends that slow down trains, and sharing the tracks with freight and other trains. Amtrak wants to reduce the duration of the Acela's journey from New York to Washington to less than two hours. The most populous state in the union, California, approved a bond issue in 2008 for a bullet train between San Francisco and Los Angeles; however, by 2022, work had barely started on a single portion, and the project's anticipated cost had increased to $113 billion, casting doubt on its future.

The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, a $1 trillion infrastructure bill that included $66 billion for rail, gave supporters of high-speed rail in the United States hope. With the money, Amtrak will be brought up to date and train schedules will be accelerated. Older bridges and tunnels that impede rail travel will be replaced. The French high-speed passenger trains, known as trains à grande vitesse, or TGVs, are the inspiration for the trains that Alstom, a train maker, is constructing for Amtrak in Hornell, New York. With a top speed of around 300 km/h (186 miles per hour), they will be the fastest in the US, however the trains won't reach that mark right once because of the limits imposed by the route.

The Gotthard Base Tunnel in southern Switzerland opens for traffic in 2016.  The longest and deepest railway tunnel in the world, it can handle high-speed trains, shortening the time it takes for people and goods to move between northern and southern Europe, and provide a number of other advantages for safety and the environment. 

Technology

Japan's bullet train, the Shinkansen, crosses the Fuji River on a bridge near Fuji, Shizuoka prefecture; Mount Fuji is visible in the distance.

Like regular trains, the majority of high-speed rail lines run on steel wheels that cross steel rails. Older turbo trains, which were in service in certain regions of North America in the 1970s and 1980s, were propelled by jet aircraft-style gas turbine engines. The majority of these high-speed rail types were removed from service in support of electrified railroads. The electric multiple-unit Shinkansen trains of Japan are powered by an overhead wire system. Electric trains, which can carry up to 1,000 passengers and reach speeds of over 320 km/h (200 miles per hour), are equipped with sophisticated safety measures. For instance, every car has certain brake systems that are meant to remain rigid during emergency braking. In addition, a central computerized facility oversees and controls every train movement, and it keeps an eye out for any potential obstacles on the rails.

Another technology that powers fast rail service is called a Maglev train, also called a magnetic levitation train. Trains using maglev technology lift several inches above the track or guide way thanks to electromagnetic force. These trains are quieter and more comfortable to ride than traditional trains, and they can achieve faster speeds by removing a major source of friction—the wheels on the rails. The need for new infrastructure that cannot be linked with the current railroads is a barrier in the construction of maglev trains. Developing maglev train systems requires the usage of rare-earth elements (scandium, yttrium, and 15 lanthanides), which can be costly to collect and purify. This is in addition to the building costs. Magnets composed of rare-earth elements, however, produce a stronger magnetic field than ferrite (iron compounds) or alnico (alloys of iron, aluminum, nickel, cobalt, and copper) magnets to lift and guide the train cars over a guide way.

China declared in 2021 that its Maglev train might reach 600 km/h (373 miles per hour), having already tested a short route between an airport and a stop in the city center. It would then be the world's fastest land vehicle. Short maglev train routes can also be found in South Korea and Japan.

As the sector continues to grow, the market is evolving quickly. Technology innovation has given today's firms a variety of benefits that have changed the economy on a regular basis. Therefore, in order to improve its strategy, a business must understand the trends in market movements. An effective strategy gives businesses a head start on planning and a competitive advantage.