High Speed Rail around the world.

[Anonymous]

What is the longest high speed route in the world?
By this i mean over how many miles can you travel at speeds of over 100 mph on one trip.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Non stop or length of full route? The candidates have to be Japan, France and the Chunnel route. The NEC might be in the running.

[Anonymous]

France has high speed rail all the way from the chunnel thru Lille, Paris, Lyons, down to Marsailles..... England will soon have a high speed rail line from the chunnel thru London, all the way north to Edinburg...with another line from London thru Liverpool to Glascow.... this is a considerable distance.....

On top of this there is a high speed rail line north of Lille going to Amsterdam.... France is building a high speed line east of Paris to the Strasbourg area, with Germany improving a line from Frankfurt to Strasbourg.....and from Frankfurt there is a high speed rail line to the Ruhr, and from the Ruhr there is a high speed rail line to Berlin.....

Italy has a high speed rail line north of Rome to Florence, they are extending it to Milan, and in corporation with the French are building a high speed rail line from Turin to the Lyons area thru some very tough mountainous area.... While the line from Turin to Venice is not what I consider high speed rail, the line does support trains up to 100 mph....an improvement to this line thru the Po River valley is on the books.....

While the Europeans started building high speed rail between cities, lately it appears they are connecting the dots.....for long range service..... It won't be long before you can travel in Europe high speed rail from Scotland to Rome, Venice, and Berlin.....

[TH&B]

And I beleive Japan has a comparable sized network! But what does all this mean for conventional long distance trains over in Europe? I do know they have a much denser population density then the USA ((for now, the US is growng faster)). I once saw a TV show when the TGV first started out and I thought it was unbeleivably great but one passenger interviewed said he prefered the standard coridor stock in common use at the time.... and today I do agree with him. When I take the train I want a train ride, not a "superior" airplane simulating ride, still at least it still is a train even if I can't feel it. They build hi speed lines over there like they build freeways over here ((plus they also build the freeways too)) .
The country in Europe I come from I realy don't like what they have done, created hi speed type trains that don't realy travel hi speed and stop frequently, no compartments any more, windows don't open, seat resevation manditory, inspired by HSR but not hi speed. The direct line to Berlin was cloesed so you can take a faster but longer route train to get there in the same amount of time but they get to charge you for more kilometers at HSR rates on the German side, wich is more expensive.
It's good but it's not that great I guess.

[Modelcar]

....Nothing at all like that happening in this country..[I suppose a bit with the NEC]. Guess we're somehow different and will not [for the near term], be doing much on HSR transportation....Maybe we build up too much debt trying to be the worlds policeman and really can't think too much of doing the transportation things all of Europe seems to be doing to bring themselves into the 21th century of ground transportaton systems.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CHPENNSYLVANIA

What is the longest high speed route in the world?
By this i mean over how many miles can you travel at speeds of over 100 mph on one trip.

So, if we rephrase the question slightly to read: "The largest high speed rail network", it looks like we have a clear winner showing up. In terms of total route miles, it has to be the EC (European Community). Japan just doesn't have the land mass to compete with the European network.

Edinburgh to Rome, with what, one change in Paris? Not bad!!! Probably one in London too, still not bad.[8D]

[espeefoamer]

What is the longest one-seat ride one can take on HSR?

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

What is the longest one-seat ride one can take on HSR?

I did a little poking around on the internet, and I think I have thing nailed down to two chouces, and a possible winner.

Japan Rail is divided into sections with Tokyo at the center. The Shinkansan routes go north and west from there. The west route is about 500 miles long, the north is a little shorter.

The Eurostar doesn't just go from London to Paris. It goes all the way south to Avignon almost doubling the run. The route is about 600 miles, and the schedule says 6 hours travel time. That's about 100 MPH average, including station stop time.

I haven't checked the Italian train yet. If it were to connect at Avignon, and run all the way to Naples, it would be right around 600 miles also.

[TH&B]

I checked and it looks like I would say the Japanese Bullet is the winner. Hakata - Tokyo - Hachinoe is some 1660kms of all HSR right of way.
In France you have London - Paris - Marseille at some 1400km mostly HSR including the Chunnel. Trains go beyond that but on slower rails on older alignments.
The Japan system is 100% pure HSR because the slow rails are narrower gage and incompatable.
The French TGV has a fuzzier begining and end because the TGV is integrated with other rail lines.

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by 440cuin

I checked and it looks like I would say the Japanese Bullet is the winner. Hakata - Tokyo - Hachinoe is some 1660kms of all HSR right of way.
In France you have London - Paris - Marseille at some 1400km mostly HSR including the Chunnel. Trains go beyond that but on slower rails on older alignments.
The Japan system is 100% pure HSR because the slow rails are narrower gage and incompatable.
The French TGV has a fuzzier begining and end because the TGV is integrated with other rail lines.

Not to argue or split hairs here, but we are both right, and both wrong depending on how the question is asked.

You are correct when you say Japan has the longest continuous high speed trackage. But my understanding is that, to make that trip the length of the big island, one would have to change trains in Tokyo. This is similar to what we do with Amtrak in Chicago. Japan has a distinct advantage in this regard, because the system serves only one nation, and an island nation at that.

http://www.westjr.co.jp/english/engli***ravel/con01/map.html

The European system is truely a network. It is slowly being pieced together with different lines in different countries. The Eurostar is a joint effort between England, France and Belgium. The longest route traveled by a single train is that London to Avignon route.

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The original question: What is the longest high speed route in the world?
By this i mean over how many miles can you travel at speeds of over 100 mph on one trip.

Maximum length of continuous trackage JAPAN.

Maximum route length single train Eurostar (but not by much).

By the way, just like Amtrak, you can buy your tickets for any of these trains online.[swg]

[andrewjonathon]

Spain is also actively developing a high speed network. So for in includes Seville-Madrid (330+ miles), Madrid-Valencia (220+ miles) and Valencia - Barcelona (215+ miles). A couple of years ago I took the train from Seville to Madrid in 2.5 hours. Top speed is similiar to the TGV with an average speed of over 130mph includins time in stations. Personally, I prefer the riding in the modern high speed trains over the conventional trains. I have a hard time comparing them with the cattle car experience of flying in a modern airplane unless you are flying first class.