Land speed record for railed vehicles Totally Explained

Everything about Land Speed Record For Railed Vehicles totally explained

Determination of the fastest railed vehicle in the world varies depending on the definition of "rail".
The French TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) is the fastest conventional train in the world, using powered metal wheels riding on metal rails. In April 2007, the TGV broke its own 1990 record with a new speed of 574.8 km/h (357.18 mph) under test conditions with a shortened train (two power cars and three passenger cars).
The Japanese JR-Maglev is the fastest non-conventional train in the world, having achieved 581 km/h (361 mph) on a magnetic-levitation track. Unmanned rocket sleds that ride on rails have reached over 10,400 km/h (6,462 mph), equivalent to Mach 8.5. The fastest manned rail vehicle is a manned rocket sled, that travelled at 1,017 km/h (635 mph).

Conventional wheeled

Electric multiple units

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
Siemens & Halske Drehstrom	Electric (Locomotive or EMU?)	Between Marienfelde and Zossen, Germany	1901	Drehstrom: Three-phase. Some sources say 160 or 162 km/h. See: (External Link).
Siemens & Halske Drehstrom-Triebwagen	Electric multiple unit (EMU)	Between Marienfelde and Zossen, Germany	6 October 1903	Drehstrom-Triebwagen: Three-phase-Multiple unit. Some sources say 7 October, others say 201 or 200.99 km/h and others say an improbable 213 km/h. See:, (External Link), (External Link).
Siemens & Halske Drehstrom-Triebwagen	Electric multiple unit	Between Marienfelde and Zossen, Germany	23 October 1903	Drehstrom-Triebwagen: Three-phase-Multiple unit.
AEG Drehstrom-Triebwagen	Electric multiple unit	Between Marienfelde and Zossen, Germany	28 October 1903	Drehstrom-Triebwagen: Three-phase-Multiple unit. Many sources say 27 October. On 25 November 1903 a Siemens & Halske train attained 210 km/h. Absolute record. Broken by Schienenzeppelin in 1931. Record for electrical trains until 1954. See:, (External Link), (External Link).
1000 Type Shinkansen	Electric multiple unit	Japan	30 March 1963	On Odawara test track, now part of Tōkaidō Shinkansen.
951 Type Shinkansen	Electric multiple unit	Japan	24 February 1972	On Sanyō Shinkansen.
961 Type Shinkansen	Electric multiple unit	Japan	7 December 1979	On Oyama test track, now part of Tōhoku Shinkansen.
SNCF TGV Sud-Est Set No. 16	Electric multiple unit	France	26 February 1981	On LGV Sud-Est. Conventional wheeled absolute record.
InterCityExperimental (ICE-V)	Electric multiple unit	West Germany	1 May 1988	Conventional wheeled absolute record.
SNCF TGV Sud-Est Set No. 88	Electric multiple unit	France	12 December 1988	On LGV Sud-Est. Conventional wheeled absolute record.
SNCF TGV Atlantique Set No. 325	Electric multiple unit	France	5 December 1989	On LGV Atlantique. Set formed of 2 power cars + 3 trailers. Conventional wheeled absolute record.
SNCF TGV Atlantique Set No. 325	Electric multiple unit	France	18 May 1990	On LGV Atlantique. Set formed of 2 power cars + 3 trailers. Conventional wheeled absolute record.
SNCF TGV POS Set No. 4402	Electric multiple unit	France	3 April 2007	On LGV Est. Set formed of 2 power cars + 3 trailers. Conventional wheeled absolute record.

Electric locomotives

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
Alstom CC 7121	Electric locomotive	France	21 February 1954	Between Dijon and Beaune. Conventional wheeled absolute record.
Alstom CC 7107	Electric locomotive	France	28 March 1955	On the Les Landes line between Bordeaux and Dax (Facture - Morcenx). Conventional wheeled absolute record. See: .
Jeumont-Schneider BB 9004	Electric locomotive	France	29 March 1955	On the Les Landes line between Bordeaux and Dax (Facture - Morcenx). Conventional wheeled absolute record. Other sources say 330.9 km/h. See:, (External Link).
Siemens Eurosprinter ES64U4 No. 1216 050-5	Electric locomotive	Germany	2 September 2006	Record attained on Nuremberg-Munich high-speed rail line, locomotive owned by ÖBB. Series-produced locomotive. See: (External Link), (External Link).

Third rail electric

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Class 442 (Wessex Electric) unit 2401	Electric	United Kingdom	11 April 1988

Gas turbine

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	UAC TurboTrain	Gas turbine-electric	United States	20 December 1967
	TGV 001	Gas turbine-electric	France	8 December 1972

Diesel

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
Pioneer Zephyr	Diesel	United States	26 May 1934
DRG SVT 137 "Bauart Leipzig"	Diesel	Germany	17 February 1936	First diesel train faster than 125 mph
DRG SVT 137 155 (Kruckenberg)	Diesel	Germany	23 June 1939
Class 252 (HST prototype)	Diesel	United Kingdom	12 June 1973
Class 43 (HST)	Diesel	United Kingdom	1 November 1987	Current diesel speed record listed in 2006 Guinness Book of Records
TEP80	Diesel	Russia	December 1992	Claimed by Russian manufacturer
Talgo XXI	Diesel	Spain	12 June 2002	Claimed by Spanish manufacturer

Petrol

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Schienenzeppelin	Propeller pushed railcar with a petrol aero engine	On the route Berlin - Hamburg between Karstädt and Dergenthin, Germany	21 June 1931	Absolute record for more than twenty years. Engine by BMW. Other sources say between Ludwigslust und Wittenberge.

Steam

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
8 (4.97)	Richard Trevithick's world's first railway steam locomotive	Steam	United Kingdom	21 February 1804
24 (15)	Locomotion No. 1	Steam	United Kingdom	1825
48 (30)	Stephenson's Rocket	Steam	United Kingdom	1830
96.6 (60)	Boston and Maine Railroad Antelope	Steam	United States	1848	First authenticated 60 mph, 26 miles in 26 minutes.
125.6 (78)	Great Britain	Steam	United Kingdom	1850	80mph claimed
131.6 (81.8)	Bristol & Exeter Railway #41	Steam	United Kingdom	June 1854
131 (82)	Empire State Express No. 999	Steam	United States	May 10 1893	112 mph (179 km/h) claimed, which would make it the first wheeled vehicle to exceed 100 mph.
145 (90)	LNWR No. 790 Hardwicke	Steam	United Kingdom	22-23 August 1895	Maximum speed claimed, although average speed record was authenticated (see below).
164 (102.3)	GWR 3700 Class 3440 City of Truro	Steam	United Kingdom	9 May 1904	Claimed to be the first steam locomotive to reach 100 mph.
185.07 (115.00)	Pennsylvania Railroad E6s #460	Steam	United States	11 June 1927	Claimed. E6s #7002 was clocked at Crestline, Ohio at 127.1 mph (204.55 km/h) in 1905. However PRR Steam Locomotives didn't carry speedometers at that time, speed was calculated by measuring time between mile markers, so this isn't recognized as a speed record.
160 (100)	LNER Class A3 4472 Flying Scotsman	Steam	United Kingdom	30 November 1934	In 1934, Flying Scotsman achieved the first authenticated 100 mph (160 km/h) by a steam locomotive.
168.5 (104.70)	LNER Class A3 No. 2750 Papyrus	Steam	United Kingdom	5 March 1935	First run at 100+ mph with complete, surviving documentation.
181.1 (112.53)	Milwaukee Road class A #2	Steam	United States	15 May 1935	Claimed
180.3 (112)	LNER Class A4 2509 Silver Link	Steam	United Kingdom	29 September 1935	Authenticated. Some sources say 112.5 mph.
200.4 (124.52)	Borsig DRG series 05 002	Steam	Germany	11 May 1936
202.6 (125.88)	LNER Class A4 No.4468 Mallard	Steam	United Kingdom	3 July 1938	Peak speed 202.6 km/h, mean speed (half-mile) 201.2 km/h. Mallard suffered an overheated big end during the run, but was repaired and returned to traffic within 9 days.

Jet

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Budd Rail Diesel Car	Jet aero engines	United States	23 July 1966

Rocket

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Opel RAK III	Rocket	Germany	23 June 1928	Unmanned. Some sources say 254 or 290 km/h. See: (External Link), (External Link), (External Link), (External Link), (External Link).

Narrow gauge

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
JNR C62 steam locomotive No. C62 17	Steam locomotive	Japan	19 December 1954	On JNR Tōkaidō Main Line
Odakyū 3000 series SE Romancecar	Electric multiple unit	Japan	27 September 1957	On JNR Tōkaidō Main Line
JNR 151 series	Electric multiple unit	Japan	31 July 1959	On JNR Tōkaidō Main Line
JNR KuMoYa93 test car	Electric multiple unit	Japan	21 November 1960	On JNR Tōkaidō Main Line
Class 6E	Electric locomotive	South Africa	December 1978

Hovertrain

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
Aérotrain 01	Hovercraft train, Propeller engine	, France	21 February 1966
Aérotrain 01	Hovercraft train, Propeller engine	Gometz-la-Ville, France	A few days after 21 February 1966
Aérotrain 01	Hovercraft train, Jet aero engine	Gometz-la-Ville, France	23 December 1966	With the help of an auxiliary rocket.
Aérotrain 02	Hovercraft train, Jet aero engine	Gometz-la-Ville, France	November 1967
Aérotrain 02	Hovercraft train, Jet aero engine	Gometz-la-Ville, France	22 January 1969	With the help of an auxiliary rocket.
Aérotrain I-80 Haute Vitesse (HV)	Hovercraft train, Jet aero engine	Chevilly, Loiret, France	5 March 1974	Peak speed 430.4 km/h, average speed over two runs in opposite directions 417.6 km/h on a 3 km track.

Maglev

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
MBB Prinzipfahrzeug	Maglev	MBB's Ottobrunn factory (near Munich), West Germany	6 May 1971	660 m test track; MBB: Messerschmidt-Bölkow-Blohm, Prinzipfahrzeug: Principle vehicle.
Transrapid 02	Maglev	Krauss-Maffei's plant in Munich - Allach, West Germany	October 1971	930 m test track which included one curve.
Transrapid 04	Maglev	Munich - Allach, West Germany	end 1973
Transrapid 04	Maglev	West Germany	21 November 1977
JR-Maglev ML-500R	Maglev	Miyazaki Maglev Test Track, Japan	12 December 1979
JR-Maglev ML-500R	Maglev	Miyazaki Maglev Test Track, Japan	21 December 1979
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	12 December 1997	Three-car train set.
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	24 December 1997	Three-car train set.
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	14 April 1999	Five-car train set. Guinness Book of Records authenticated.
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	2 December 2003	Three-car train set. Absolute record (excepting rocket sleds). Guinness Book of Records authenticated.

Unmanned - other propulsion

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Komet	Maglev	Manching, Germany	1974	By MBB. Propelled by six hot water rockets.

Relative passing speed between two trains

Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
TGV	Electric	LGV Atlantique, France	December 1989	conventional wheeled
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	December 1998
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	November 1999
JR-Maglev MLX01	Maglev	Yamanashi Maglev Test Line, Japan	16 November 2004

Unmodified (commercially operated)

Top speed

Conventional wheeled

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	SNCF TGV Sud-Est Set No. 16	Electric multiple unit	France	26 February 1981	On LGV Sud-Est. Conventional wheeled absolute record.
	Siemens Velaro E (AVE S-103)	Electric	Between Guadalajara and Calatayud, Spain	between 15 and 16 July 2006	On the Madrid-Zaragoza AVE line. See: (External Link), (External Link).

Maglev

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Transrapid	Maglev	Shanghai Maglev Train, China	Scheduled every day

Relative passing speed between two trains

km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	Date	Comments
	Transrapid	Maglev	Shanghai Maglev Train, China	Scheduled every day	usually slows to 270 km/h when passing oncoming train

Average speed over long distance

Demonstration or other special workings with record average speed over distances of more than 160km (100 miles).

Top speed (km/h)	Distance	Time	Train	Type	Location	From	To	Date	Comments
145 (90) claimed	227km (141 miles)	126 min	LNWR No. 790 Hardwicke	Steam	United Kingdom	Crewe	Carlisle	22-23 August 1895	Overnight train
181 (112.4)	1,633 km (1,015 miles)	785 min	Pioneer Zephyr	Diesel	United States	Denver	Chicago	26 May 1934	1,015 miles non-stop in 13 hours 5 minutes.
203	316 km	115 min	ETR 200	Electric	Italy	Florence	Milan	20 July 1939	175.8 km/h mean speed between Lavino and Rogoredo (distance 199.147 km).
367	1,067.2 km	3 h 29 min	TGV	Electric	France	Calais	Marseille	26 May 2001	1,000 km record at 317.46 km/h in 3 h 9 min.

Scheduled trains

Average speed (from station to station)

Top speed km/h (mph)	Train	Type	Location	From	To	Distance	Date	Comments
128.8 (80)	Cheltenham Spa Express	Steam	United Kingdom	Swindon	London	124.45km (77.3 miles)	1932	77.3 miles in 65 minutes. Claimed by the Great Western Railway at the time to be the world's fastest train.
160 (99.4)	"Fliegender Hamburger"	Diesel-electric	Germany	Berlin	Hamburg	286 km	1933	DMU, 98 passengers
160 (99.4)	Mistral	Electric	France	Paris	Dijon	315 km	1964
210 (130.4)	Hikari Shinkansen	Electric	Japan	Tokyo	Shin-Osaka	515.0 km	1965	stopped at Nagoya and Kyoto
200 (124.2)	Etendard	Electric	France	St-Pierre-des-Corps	Poitiers	100 km	1973	old line, locomotive hauled (CC6500)
260 (161.4)	TGV	Electric	France	Paris	Lyon-Brotteaux	429 km	1983
300 (186.3)	Nozomi Shinkansen	Electric	Japan	Hiroshima	Kokura	192.0 km	1997	operated by 500 Series Shinkansen
320 (198.7)	TGV	Electric	France	Lyon-St Exupéry	Aix-en-Provence	289.6 km	2005
320 (198.7)	TGV	Electric	France	Lorraine TGV	Champagne TGV	167.6 km	2007	on new LGV Est

Top speed (first attained)

Average speed (km/h)	Train	Type	Location	From	To	Distance	Date	Comments
128.9	Hikari Shinkansen	Electric	Japan	Tokyo	Shin-Osaka	515 km	1964	Fastest conventional
-	TGV	Electric	France	Paris	Lyon-Brotteaux	430 km	1981	Fastest conventional
-	TGV	Electric	France	Paris	Lyon-Brotteaux	430 km	1983	Fastest conventional
-	TGV	Electric	France	Paris	Le Mans	202 km	1989	Fastest conventional
245.5	Shanghai Maglev Train	Maglev	China	Shanghai Pudong Airport	Shanghai Longyang Road	30 km	2003	Fastest fully operating commercial

Average speed (between terminating stations)

Average speed (km/h)	Train	Type	Location	From	To	Distance	Date	Comments
	Nozomi Shinkansen	Electric	Japan	Shin-Osaka	Hakata	554 km	1997	conventional wheeled
	TGV	Electric	France	Paris-Lyon	Marseille St-Charles	750 km	2001...	conventional wheeled

Rocket sled

Type	Location	Date	Comments
Rocket sled	Holloman Air Force Base (USA)	10 December 1954	Manned by John Stapp. Fastest manned rocket-sled. Fastest manned rail vehicle. Fastest manned open-cockpit vehicle.
Rocket sled	New Mexico (USA)	1959	Umanned. It ran on SNORT (Supersonic Naval Ordnance Track).
Rocket sled	Holloman Air Force Base (USA)	October 1982	Unmanned. It blasted a 25-pound payload to a speed of 6119 mph.
Rocket sled	Holloman Air Force Base (USA)	30 April 2003	Unmanned. It was the final stage of a four-stage sled train, which included the sled, a Super Roadrunner rocket motor, and a 192-pound payload on top. The sled train delivered payload into a target at a velocity of 9465 feet per second, or 6453 mph (2885 m/s), or Mach 8.5.

Further Information

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