Asked “what is the fastest train?”, a single figure is not much of an answer. The 603 km/h reached in Japan and the French TGV’s 574.8 km/h were achieved using different technologies. And a trial record does not describe a journey that passengers can book.
603 km/h: a magnetic-levitation performance
A 2017 presentation by the Japanese government notes that an SCMAGLEV reached 603 km/h in April 2015. The technology was developed by JR Central and tested on the Yamanashi line.
The name refers to superconducting magnetic levitation. Magnets allow the vehicle to lift above its guideway. The source describes it starting on tyres, then beginning to levitate at around 160 km/h.
So this is not simply a TGV pushed to a higher speed. The operating principle and infrastructure are different. The 2017 document also contains project timetables: these remain announcements from that time and should not be read as proof of a current commercial opening.
574.8 km/h: the French V150 trainset
On 3 April 2007, at 13:13, the V150 test trainset reached 574.8 km/h on the LGV Est européenne. The Alstom press release issued at the time of the record places the performance at kilometre point 191.
The operation involved Réseau ferré de France, Alstom and SNCF.
The two figures must therefore be compared within their respective categories: a magnetic-levitation vehicle on one side, a conventional wheeled train on the other. The gap between the numbers is not enough to say that the two systems could replace one another on the same line.
A top speed does not tell you how long a journey takes
A record establishes performance under trial conditions. A service intended for passengers raises a different question: what service actually operates, on what infrastructure, with which stops and to what timetable?
To compare journeys, what matters is the advertised time between departure and arrival. To compare innovations, the type of vehicle, the nature of the demonstration and the project’s stage must be specified. The two records tell the story of technical achievements; they do not promise a ticket at 603 or 574.8 km/h.
Photo credit: Pi Eye / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0.
