Since the 1955 record, where France recorded a world record of speed of 331 km/h, France has nearly continuously held the absolute world speed record. The latest record is held by a TGV POS trainset, which reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) in 2007, on the newly constructed LGV Est high-speed line. This run was for proof of concept and engineering, not to test normal passenger service.
That's the record.
As of 2022, the fastest trains currently in commercial operation are:
- CR400AF/KCIC400AF, CR400BF: 350 km/h (220 mph) (in China and Indonesia)
- TGV Duplex, TGV Réseau, TGV POS, TGV Euroduplex: 320 km/h (200 mph) (in France)
- Eurostar e320: 320 km/h (200 mph) (in France and United Kingdom)
The are current trains.
A direct train on straight track in the land of the lack of regulation could easily have a 500km/h average on a separate line. The US could be *plastered with train tracks making train travel much more convenient that a plane.