Countries with the Longest High Speed Rail Networks

Can you name the countries which have the longest lengths of railway with speeds of at least 200 km/h?

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Last updated: March 16, 2024

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First submitted	December 23, 2017
Times taken	58,337
Average score	80.0%
Rating	4.89

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System Length	Answer
45,000 km	China
4,327 km	Spain
3,977 km	France
3,521 km	Germany
2,727 km	Japan
2,020 km	Italy
1.927 km	United Kingdom

System Length	Answer
1,282 km	South Korea
1,313 km	Turkey
1,120 km	Finland
860 km	Sweden
741 km	Uzbekistan
735 km	United States
700 km	Greece

System Length	Answer
650 km	Russia
449 km	Saudi Arabia
332 km	Taiwan
254 km	Austria
227 km	Portugal
224 km	Poland

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104 Recent Comments

+23

Level 86

Feb 13, 2018

Like everyone, I got everything but Uzbekistan. That's a big drop from second least to least guessed! (82% to 18% at the moment)

+19

Level 68

Feb 13, 2018

I don't think any of us expected Uzbekistan!

+30

Level 82

Feb 14, 2018

I even wanted to type it but after Kazachstan i said nah to myself :(

Level 67

Feb 15, 2018

Indeed. When I saw it I was like "wow, now that is random".

+13

Level 85

Feb 20, 2018

Same here, Kazakhstan has fast Talgo trains but apparently they don't go over 200, so I didn't try others. However, Uzbekistan has much larger population despite much smaller size, and even that is mostly concentrated in the east.

+16

Level 85

Jun 16, 2018

Bizarrely I did this quiz straight after finishing a journey from Samarkand to Bukhara on the Afrosiyob - the Uzbek version of the bullet train. Very comfortable it is too.

Level 66

Jun 17, 2018

I knew it from a Wendover Productions video.

+28

Level 75

Oct 14, 2018

nobody expects the Uzbekistan Railways

Level 80

Jun 17, 2019

well played

Level 81

Feb 14, 2018

wow, 25,000 km

Level 51

Feb 15, 2018

it's very far

Level 81

Jun 18, 2019

And they've added 6,000 km more in the past year!?

Level 80

Mar 16, 2024

Now they've added 20,000 km!!

+16

Level 82

Feb 14, 2018

I wanted to type Uzbekistan but after i tried Kazachstan i decided not to...

+15

Level 67

Feb 15, 2018

After Kazakhstan didn't work I didn't even bother trying any of the central asian countries.

+13

Level 86

Feb 14, 2018

There was a YouTube video about Why the railroad system in USA is bad that made by Wendover Production. In that video It mentions USA has less high speed train tracks than Poland, Turkey and Uzbekistan. I'm from Turkey so I knew it, I can guess Poland too but I owe Uzbekistan to that video. Thanks Wendover Production :) Btw link is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbEfzuCLoAQ

Level 47

Feb 15, 2018

At 200 km/h you cover the entire Danish high speed network in about 90 seconds!

+14

Level 84

Feb 15, 2018

The US is a joke. Freaking Uzbekistan has more high speed rails than the we do.

+12

Level 74

Feb 15, 2018

Makes sense. Our cities are very spread out, and flying and driving are cheap.

+25

Level 85

Feb 20, 2018

There are some very concentrated parts though, with huge traffic jams and busy air corridors, where high speed rail would absolutely make sense: SF-LA, DC-Boston at least, possibly Florida and later Chicago-NYC, Seattle-Vancouver, ...

Level 85

Mar 17, 2024

Exactly, a high speed train stopping at Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, Hartford, Providence and Boston could easily work.

Level 62

Apr 6, 2024

I think they are making one from la to vegas

Level 65

Oct 30, 2024

There are a lot of stops that could easily be made, for example st. louis-springfield-chicago-milwaukee-green bay-twin cities

Level 64

Aug 7, 2019

In Europe all high speed lines are connected up so a train could theoretically go from London to southern Italy at 300 kph. This is like the length of the east coast of the usa.

Level 92

Mar 7, 2018

That's because of the cheap Oil. Flying and driving is a lot cheaper. For instance, driving in The Netherlands means paying more than 2 dollars per liter for gas, cars are more expensive and there's loads of traffic.

Level 65

Jun 16, 2018

Many Americans prefer the independence of driving themselves no matter what the inconvenience.

Level 44

Oct 15, 2023

I can't even imagine a scenario where I would use a high speed line. I live in New England, and I mostly travel to Florida and Texas. Both of those trips would take 10+ hours.

On a plane: I leave in the morning, I arrive in the morning.

Anything more local and I hop on the interstate, and when you factor in parking, boarding, not having a car at my destination, and other things, I would never want to take a train, anyway.

Level 65

Feb 15, 2018

what about Saudi Arabia? they have just started one to Mecca

Level 85

Feb 20, 2018

Apparently not finished yet.

Level 34

May 10, 2018

Uzbekistan? Random!!

Level 52

Jun 29, 2023

I got it because I read articles about Chinese helping Uzbekistan build railways.

Level 76

May 22, 2018

Portugal and Greece have lines over 200 km/h as well:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe#/media/File:High_Speed_Railroad_Map_of_Europe.svg

Level 50

Mar 7, 2022

Greece doesn't. Trains can go up to 160 km/h.

Level 63

Apr 8, 2024

They made it on the quiz now, 2 years later.

Level 72

Jun 16, 2018

Given that there has been a lot of political focus on HS2 in the UK, I am surprised to see the UK so high up on this list. Other than HS1 (London to Dover) where are the other high-speed rail lines?

Level 72

Jun 16, 2018

Ah, I've just checked the source and found out that some older major lines have been upgraded to go at faster speeds, such as the line linking London and Glasgow.

Level 76

Jun 17, 2018

The main lines in the UK are operated at 200kph, with leeway to upgrade to 225. HS2 is planned to operate at speeds of up to 400kph.

Level 55

Mar 29, 2020

The main trunk routes (ECML, WCML, GWR, MML) have 160-200kp/h line speeds and could be further upgraded with in-cab signalling. Both the ECML and GWR were built with gentle curves over relatively flat land, with the ECML nicknamed the 'race track'. This map is really good https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Europe#/media/File:High_Speed_Railroad_Map_of_Europe.svg

Level 58

Apr 27, 2020

200km/h is only 145 mph or so. It's not what we would call "high speed". I was surprised too! Even the APT in the '70s was built to run at 170mph (250km/h).

Level 60

Nov 1, 2020

200kph =125mph. 1km = 5/8mile. 200/8x5=125.

Before privatisation of the railways, British Rail were operating Inter-City 125 services between many large cities from 1976. In fact, even before that, the Mallard broke the steam train record at 126 mph (203kph) way back in 1938.

Level 58

Mar 16, 2024

Oh yes. Even slower than I thought! A 1930s idea of "high speed".

Level 59

Jun 16, 2018

Is the Acela Express stopped now or the distance from Washington to Boston is only 44km ?

Level 74

Jun 16, 2018

I assume that only 44 km are graded as high speed rail. The areas around the cities especially have significantly lower posted speed limits.

Level 63

Jun 16, 2018

Indeed, Portugal, the line Porto-Lisbon speed goes up to 220-230, In Greece as well, and in fact Liechtenstein indeed also has a highspeed railwa, though it does not stop there. Would you please confirm it? thanks a lot...regards

Level 50

Mar 7, 2022

For Greece it doesn't. The speed limit is 160 km/h.

Level 62

Jun 16, 2018

The 600km one completely threw me off. I would never have guessed it. The only thing standing between me and that perfect score!

Level 88

Jun 16, 2018

Even if this quiz had been 10 minutes long, I probably still would not have guessed the United States. Derp.

Level 71

Jun 16, 2018

I'm not surprised at how low the U.S. is, but it is a bit ridiculous that Taiwan, a country half the size of West Virginia by area has nearly 8 times the length of high speed rail as the entire U.S. And unlike the comparably-sized European countries, Taiwan is an island, so it's not even rail lines connecting to other countries.

Level 81

Jun 16, 2018

It's a car culture.

Level 78

Jun 17, 2019

East Asian countries in general tend to invest a lot of money into infrastructure

Level 66

Jun 16, 2018

I got all but Uzbekistan, just like everyone else

Level 52

Jun 17, 2018

Finished the quiz with Taiwan with one second left. I was expecting Uzbekistan since I went there three years ago and took a high-speed train during my visit.

Level 69

Jun 17, 2018

Glad to see Uzbekistan!

Level 43

Jun 18, 2018

Well, I missed Korea and Uzbekistan. Though I would have never guessed the latter!

+17

Level 72

Jun 18, 2018

Somewhat surprised to see the UK on here as, being a regular rail user in Britain, I rarely experience speeds higher than 10mph. And that's if the train even turns up at all.

Level 45

Jun 19, 2018

Thanks Xarnac, made my day :)

Level 56

May 26, 2021

Geoff Marshall does not like this comment ;-)

Level 64

Apr 30, 2019

Hmm. Maybe this quiz should be updated? New countries have been added to the list, notably Morocco.

Level 80

Jul 6, 2019

Really? I've been travelling on Moroccan railways recently and not yet met anything that goes that fast.

Level 76

Aug 8, 2022

The Al-Boraq line to Tangier. You know, it's been around for a couple of years now.

Level 59

Jun 6, 2019

Statistics needed to be updated along with the addition of Morocco and Saudi Arabia

Level 45

Jun 18, 2019

why isn't Hong Kong included in this list?

+12

Level 94

Jun 18, 2019

Really? Level 33 (at the time of writing) and you ask that question... Or were you fishing and I took the bait?!?

Level 71

Mar 19, 2024

Hong Kong has around 30 km.

Level 79

Apr 6, 2024

Also it's not a country.

Level 37

Jun 19, 2019

5 seconds before time runs out

"Ahh five left, can't think... Lets chuck down a random country which has no chance of being on there."

Brain: Uzbekistan

Level 58

Jan 9, 2021

Lol...

Level 58

Jan 9, 2021

Uzbekistan??? Never imagined such a random answer....😂

Level 81

Oct 3, 2021

Wow, China has more than the rest of the world combined. Plus they're rolling out maglev lines...which aren't particularly cost-effective, but are pretty cool.

Level 78

Nov 14, 2021

Tbh, kinda surprised Australia doesn't have more considering the vastness of the Outback, and that most of the time people are just passing through it to the next big city... seems like a great opportunity to build a train

Level 64

Jan 13, 2022

Domestic flights between cities are quicker, cheaper and easier.

Level 56

Jan 22, 2022

Domestic flights between close cities are usually neither quicker nor easier than high speed train trips. They are sometimes cheaper though, but not everywhere.

Level 84

Mar 16, 2024

There’s pretty much no such thing as ‘close cities’ in Australia. All the main cities are far enough apart to make air travel more appealing than train - possibly with the exception of Sydney/Canberra.

Level 50

Mar 7, 2022

Greece shouldn't be in this list. The speed limit is 160 km/h.

Level 48

Aug 17, 2022

As someone who has travelled in high-speed trains in China, Japan,Spain, and France, I can assure you Greece does not have a high-speed train, it just doesn't have the tracks for it.

Level 70

Dec 13, 2022

I am pretty sure the data for this is all over the place. Mixes theoretical and practical velocity.

Level 48

Jul 24, 2023

It is so sad not to see my country Czechia with at least one stupid main corridor of 60 km here. All other normal countries around us like Austria, Poland, Switzerland, Belgium and Netherlands are doing perfectly. Just us have to completely waste this opportunity of being in the centre of Europe.

Level 71

Mar 19, 2024

Czechia does have lots of highspeed-rail projects currently under construction though. Last year the HSR from Prague to Ceske Budejovice via Tabor was completed. Your country is doing much better than lots of other countries in the area (like Poland or Slovakia)

Level 52

Oct 7, 2023

Serbia should be on the list by now I think

Level 71

Mar 19, 2024

most of serbias rail network doesnt even operate above 70 km/h, if there are even trains running. The only 200 km/h part in all of Serbia is a short section between Belgrade and Novi Sad.

Level 61

Nov 7, 2023

Indonesia should be on the list as per latest data

Level 71

Mar 19, 2024

those 160 km on Java are not enough.

Level 65

Nov 21, 2023

Uzbekistan jumpscare

Level 71

Feb 6, 2024

I have absolutely no idea why I even tried to guess Uzbekistan... but I'm happy I did.

Level 71

Mar 17, 2024

I believe Morocco should be on here with 323 km?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Boraq

Level 63

Mar 18, 2024

I don't know how up to date the info on wikipedia is but it seems like only a part of the track (186 km) runs at a top speed of 320 km/h. The rest of the line was rated for 160 km/h when service began, with a "planned upgrade" to 220 km/h. The source only counts the 186 km.

Level 79

Mar 17, 2024

Uzbekistan was my first guess.

Level 50

Mar 19, 2024

Yup missed Uzbekistan. I tried every other country in Europe instead lol

Level 74

Mar 19, 2024

I'd like to understand where exactly are 1900+ km of high-speed railroads in the UK. I've lived there until 2017 and by then the only working line was the one London-Paris, so less than 200 km in the UK.

I know it was "being built", but it was about 600 km, and I've heard nothing about it being currently working, so I'm a bit puzzled on the source.

Level 71

Mar 19, 2024

London-Folkestone (Eurostar), London-Bath, London-Bristol, London-Newcastle, Luton-Wellingborough, Birmingham-Derby and Wolverhampton-Stafford. A few other short sections among the major routes also are 200+ km/h. Though I still doubt that all of those add up to 1900 km. Maybe if you include London-Birmingham under construction.

Level 74

Mar 20, 2024

Interesting... But do trains actually go 200+ km/h on those tracks?

When I checked 7 years ago how long did it take to go to places like Newcastle from London (where I was living), there was no option that was comparable to taking a plane, factoring in the "door-to-door" time.

This isn't the case in more developed countries in Europe like Spain, Italy or France, where moving from major destinations (say Naples to Florence, Marseilles to Lyon, Valladolid to Bilbao, or anywhere from the capital cities) takes remarkably less by train than by plane.

What's the situation now?

Level 74

Mar 20, 2024

Looks like - at least the London-Newcastle - is now better than taking a plane, as for speed. 3 h for 400 km isn't the fastest, but then again it's not that bad (Rome to Milan is similar, 3:00 h for 480 km, Paris to Marseilles is 3:20 h for 650 km, Madrid to Barcelona is 2:30 for 500 km, as a comparison).

Level 57

Apr 6, 2024

My guess is that the figure includes lines where the trains don't actually always go that speed, but high speed on that line is possible. Delays and congestion on the line make it impossible for all trains to achieve high speed travel.

Level 71

Mar 19, 2024

Greece does not have this much HSR over 200 km/h. Apart from two relatively short sections (on the routes of Athens-Lamia and Athens-Patras), the highest speeds in the country are 160 km/h, sometimes 180 km/h.

Level 58

Mar 27, 2024

did not expect uzbekistan to be on the list... especially that high up...

Level 55

Apr 6, 2024

18/20. Did better than I thought I was going to do but once I figured out that they were mainly in Eastern Asia and mainland Europe it got easier. Did not expect Uzbekistan.

Level 68

Apr 6, 2024

China has 17,000 km more than all the other countries on this list combined.

Level 68

Apr 6, 2024

The 20% of people who got Uzbekistan are either train fanatics or from Uzbekistan

Level 38

Apr 6, 2024

Countries with longest high-speed railway ❌

Countries with high-speed railway✅

Level 23

Apr 6, 2024

I got all except for Taiwan. Nice quiz!

Level 66

Jun 23, 2024

“High Speed” is a bit of a stretch for Deutschebahn, not that IrishRail can say much either…

Level 82

Sep 5, 2024

Good for you Uzbekistan

Level 71

Sep 19, 2024

Please change your definition of high speed train. 200 kph is not high speed, which is how you end up with almost 4000km of 'high speed' in a country like France when the TGV lines are far shorter. Same thing in the UK, where the only true high speed line is the one from the chunnel (with another in construction), which is why there are so many surprised Brits in the comments section.

Level 15

Nov 1, 2024

Morocco and Indonesia should be on the list.