How it compares
China’s high-speed rail network is bigger than the combined length of other comparable networks.
World’s fastest trains
Shanghai Maglev, the world’s fastest commercially operated train with a top speed of 431km/h, uses magnetic levitation (maglev), rather than conventional track.
Fastest ever built?
In July 2021, China unveiled a maglev train capable of travelling at a top speed of 600km/h, “the fastest ground vehicle available globally”, according to state media. CRRC Group, China’s biggest train maker, has yet to release a detailed plan for commercialising the train.
Associate Creative Director Marcelo Duhalde
Edited by Andrew London and Robyn Schorn
Cover image by Victor Sanjinez
Sources: World Bank Group, National Bureau of Statistics of China, 中国高速铁路的发展, Statista
View the print version here
