Proposed high-speed rail by country
This article lists planned or proposed high-speed rail projects, arranged by country. Although many nations have done preliminary feasibility studies, many lines are eventually shelved or postponed due to high cost, and only a few nations of those proposing are actively building high-speed rail lines. Planned or proposed lines are therefore separated here from lines that are under construction, some nations having both. High-speed rail is public transport by rail at speeds in excess of 200 km/h.
Africa
Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia
A trans-Maghreb high-speed rail line linking Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia is being planned. The project is expected to begin in Morocco and move towards Algiers, and finally reach Tunis. However, the difficult historical relations between Morocco and Algeria make the project not immediate. Part of this project line has opened as of November 2018 in the high-speed rail Al-Boraq, that service between Casablanca and Tangier, in Morocco and this is the first of its kind on the African continent.Egypt
On 12 March 2018, Egypt's Transport Minister Hisham Arafat said that Egypt is in the process of launching a new high-speed railway linking the Mediterranean and the Red Sea with the participation of more than 10 international companies.South Africa
On 7 June 2010, Minister of Transport Sbusiso Ndebele said that plans were seriously being considered for a high-speed line from Johannesburg to Durban. The line would reduce the current journey time from 12 hours to about 3 hours. The 721 km line would involve major engineering challenges, including traversing the Drakensberg mountains. A high-speed line from Johannesburg to Cape Town is also under study.Africa
Asia
Bangladesh
Bangladesh considered building a high speed rail link between Dhaka and Chittagong in 2005. The government short-listed France's SNCF and Japan Railways for the project. But the plan was then shelved. Spain and China had later, in 2014, expressed interests in developing the Bangladesh Railway into a high-speed network.North Korea
North Korea does not have a high-speed railway. Attempts were made in the 1970s to speed-up its network, when one electric trainset was built. However, the trainset never had regular services, due to bad economic situation and even 1990s crisis. In the 2000s, the Chinese government proposed a high-speed railway for DRPC, but these proposals are still too far from planning or construction stage. Changes in foreign policy in 2017–2018 period encouraged both Koreas to start international railway projects. The Chairman of the State Affairs Commission many times paid his attention to high-speed rail technologyPersian Gulf Countries
The countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council plan a 2200-kilometre rail network, Etihad Railway, which may include high-speed rail from Dubai to Abu Dhabi. however it presently runs only a freight line in between.In 2010, the government of Qatar has announced it intends to have high-speed rail links to Bahrain and Saudi Arabia built in time for its hosting of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
India
India, in collaboration with Japan, is building its first high-speed railway, the Mumbai–Ahmedabad high-speed rail corridor, on a long route between Mumbai and the western city of Ahmedabad. Pre-construction preparatory work began in the third quarter of 2017, and is expected to be completed in 2023. The National High Speed Rail Corporation plans to operate Japanese built trains at speeds up to. It is expected to cost about, and shall be mostly financed by a soft loan from Japan.The Indian government has also expressed interest in building about route length tracks of High Speed Rail lines across six corridors, with average operating speeds of. The government of Kerala state has also expressed interest in constructing a high-speed rail corridor along the length of the state, from Kasargod in the north to Thiruvananthapuram in the south; work on the corridor could begin in 2020.
There has been an initial proposal by the state government of Odisha regarding the feasibility of implementing a high speed rail link between Bhubaneswar and Berhampur, with a rail link distance of. The proposed average speed of this line would not be lower than, thereby bringing travel time down to 40 minutes, from the current 210 minutes.
Formation of National High Speed Rail Authority, a body that will look after the implementation on High Speed Rail in India had been announced in Rail budget of 2012–2013, although no firm date has been set for construction initiation or completion. Central Japan Railway Company has promoted the Shinkansen for India, while France has also shown interest in collaboration for long-term development of the Pune-Mumbai-Ahmedabad route. Spain's Talgo has also expressed interest in the projects, and plans to open an office in India to promote its technology. The current conventional lines between Amritsar-New Delhi, and Ahmedabad-Mumbai runs through suburban and rural areas, which are flat, therefore have no tunnel. Ahmedabad-Mumbai line runs near the coast therefore have more bridges, and parts of it are in backwaters or forest. The 1987 RDSO/JICA feasibility study found the Mumbai-Ahmedabad line as most promising.
Maharashtra state government has proposed a link between Mumbai and Nagpur which will be good for development of the state railway. This project's cost is estimated 600 billion. The government also wants a corridor which will connect to Navi Mumbai International Airport.
On 12 December 2015, India and Japan signed a deal for a 15 Billion deal to build a high-speed line between Mumbai and Ahmedabad. Japan will provide a very low interest loan of 12 billion. This deal was part of a greater MoU involving transfer of defense technology and civil nuclear cooperation among others.
Talgo also offered its coaches free-of-cost for a test run on the Indian tracks, the tests were carried out successfully during September and October 2016 with an Indian WDP4 Locomotive hauling a rake of Talgo coaches at speeds of up to 180 kmph on various routes across India.
Indonesia
Since 2006, Indonesian authorities have expressed an interest in high-speed rail for the densely populated island of Java, probably linking the cities of Jakarta, Bandung, and Surabaya. Since 2008, government with Japan International Cooperation Agency and Japan Transportation Consultant has done pre-Feasibility study. The Jakarta-Surabaya 685-kilometre fast train will connect both cities in 2 hours 53 minutes with maximum speed 300 kilometres/hour and average speed 250 kilometres/hours. The construction project will need 14.3 billion, exclude land acquisitions and detail engineering design, so the total cost predicted was $20 billion., Indonesia.
In July 2015, Indonesian Government revealed their plan to build high-speed rail in Indonesia. Japan and China competed to win the project, previously both nations have done comprehensive studies on the project. On late September 2015, Indonesia awards this multibillion-dollar railway project to China. On 16 October 2015, Indonesia and China signed an agreement to build Jakarta to Bandung high speed rail. Groundbreaking has been done on 21 January 2016. The HSR is project of 60 percent of Indonesian consortium and 40 percent of China Railway International. The Jakarta-Bandung high-speed rail is planned to begin its operations to public in 2021.
Japan
A maglev line between Tokyo and Osaka, the Chuo Shinkansen, is under construction by the Central Japan Railway Company.The Nagoya-Tokyo section is planned to be opened in 2027. The Nagoya-Osaka section is projected to be completed in 2045.
The route is to be privately financed through bond sales by JR Central, but the intermediate stations will be financed by local governments.
JR Central expects at least 8 years between the completion of the Tokyo section and the start of construction of the Osaka to rebuild its financial position.
The federal government is exploring options to accelerate the project.
Research on high-speed rail systems based on magnetic levitation have been ongoing since the 1970s, led by JR Central.
The trains and guideways are technologically ready and over 100,000 people have ridden them.
Pre-series L0 series trains on the Yamanashi Test Line have reached speeds of , making them the fastest trains in the world.
The Yamanashi test track is to be incorporated into the under construction Tokyo–Osaka maglev route.
Extensions to the current network expansions, notably from Hakodate to Sapporo, have been approved for construction. The route of the final extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen has not been finalised. It is ultimately to provide a northern route through to Osaka.
Conventional routes planned in 1973 are on hold. Further Hokkaido Shinkansen extension was proposed in 1970s, even to Russian border via possible tunnel, tunnel to South Korea is also proposed.
Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
Sapporo – Asahikawa | 320+ km/h | 130 km | on hold | 2045 |
Sapporo – Oshamambe | 200+ km/h | 180 km | on hold | 2045 |
Uetsu Shinkansen | 200+ km/h | 560 km | on hold | 2030+ |
Obu Shinkansen | 200+ km/h | 270 km | on hold | 2030+ |
Hokuriku Shinkansen | 200+ km/h | 50 km | Tokyo to Kazawa operational, Kanazawa to Tsuruga under construction, Tsuruga to Osaka in planning | 2045 |
Okayama-Matsue | 260 km/h | 150 km | on hold | 2030+ |
Sanin Shinkansen | 260 km/h | 550 km | on hold | 2030+ |
Shikoku Shinkansen | 260 km/h | 440 km | on hold | 2045 |
Okayama-Kochi | 260 km/h | 150 km | on hold | 2045 |
Fukuoka-Kagoshima | 260 km/h | 390 km | on hold | 2045 |
Oita-Kumamoto | 260 km/h | 120 km | on hold | 2045 |
Kazakhstan
, the national rail company of Kazakhstan, has awarded a contract to oversee the design and construction of a high-speed line from Nur-Sultan to Almaty. The line is expected to be long, and will travel via Karaganda and Balkhash. A viaduct across Lake Balkhash is planned near Sayaq. The trains are expected by be built by Tulpar-Talgo, and will have a maximum speed of, completing the trip in five and a half hours. The system will use Russian gauge, the same as used by Kazakhstan's existing conventional lines.Iran
Iran has a high-speed rail under construction connecting three major cities of Tehran, Qom and Isfahan. The line will have a station in Imam Khomeini International Airport. The route length will be 422 km with the operating speed of 350 km/h, decreasing the travel time from 5 hours to 90 minutes. The project costs over 7 billion Euros and will be open in 2025.Another high-speed rail is planned to link Tehran the capital to Mashhad the second largest city in Iran. If done the route will have 800 km rail and the speed of 400 km/h which will decrease the travel time from 8 hours to 3.5 hours.
Laos
Plans have been published to build a high-speed railway between Vientiane and China, where it will link to Chinese high-speed railways. Construction is said to have started in 2011. Vientiane is located close to the Thai border where are plans of a high-speed railway to Bangkok. These plans have been put on hold by China and Thailand has changed its priority routes after its new administration was elected. It will involve the construction of 154 bridges, 76 tunnels, and 31 train stations. They had ground breaking at end December 2015. The maximum speed will be about 170 km/h.Malaysia and Singapore
A high-speed rail running at 300 km/h to link Kuala Lumpur and Singapore was proposed in 2006 by YTL Corporation, operator of the KLIA Express in Malaysia, although the company did propose a similar system back in the late 1990s. A Bangkok – Kuala Lumpur – Singapore line spanning the three nations has been suggested previously, though no action has been taken. Plans for the project were put on hold in April 2008 due to high cost to the government, estimated at about RM8 billion. The project also faces opposition from rail operator rivals such as Keretapi Tanah Melayu, and the liberalisation of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore air route further dampened prospects for the proposal.In 2007, Siemens expressed interest in becoming the technology provider for the proposed rail link. By the middle of 2009, YTL again revived talk on the project and expressed hope that the Malaysian government would relook at the proposal, claiming that delays in the project has caused development costs to rise over the years.
In 2010, Malaysia had made a proposal to revive the project. In the new proposal, the route will be in two phases; the first one is from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore while the second phase will be from Kuala Lumpur to Penang.
On 19 February 2013, Singapore and Malaysia announced that they officially agreed to build a high-speed rail link between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore by 2020. The KL – Singapore section will be about 380 km long with an expected travel time of 90 minutes.
The high-speed railway terminus for Singapore will be located in Jurong East at the Jurong Country Club site while the terminus for Malaysia will be located at Bandar Malaysia in Sungai Besi.
The high-speed railway depot for Singapore will be located in Tuas at the Raffles Country Club.
After the landslide defeat of Mr Najib in May 2018, his successor, Mahathir Mohamad told the Financial Times that the project would be delayed till 2031. There are also cheaper alternatives being devised. This costs RM 20 billion and involves upgrading the Keretapi Tanah Melayu line so that trains can run at 200 km/h and align the KTM line to Jurong East Station.
Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
Kuala-Lumpur – Singapore High Speed Rail | >300 km/h | 350 km | Planned | 2026 |
Myanmar
Plans have been published to build a high-speed railway between Yangon and Kunming in China, a distance of 1920 km. Construction is said to start after agreements with China was signed in 2011. The project was put on hold in 2014 due to financial feasibility and national security concerns. The project was rebooted in 2019.Philippines
proposed to building a bullet train system connecting Laoag City in the northern part of Luzon island, passing through Manila, and finally ending in the Bicol Region in Southeastern Luzon. As of 2010, this project has been put on hold.In April 2013, the National Economic and Development Authority announced the plans of the Metro Pacific Investments Corporation to fund the Clark-Metro Manila high-speed train project under a Build-Operate-Transfer scheme. The project will be called "Express Airport Trains" which will have at least three stops in Metro Manila and will be built between the lanes of the North Luzon Expressway. The trains are planned to have stops in Quezon City, Manila, and Makati City.
Current railway projects such as the PNR South Long Haul are being designed for eventual upgrading to high-speed rail, and there are plans for an HSR.
Thailand
The State Railway of Thailand and the Thai Ministry of Transport have plans for several high-speed rail lines. In October 2009, it was reported that funding was being sought for four lines, linking Bangkok to Chiang Mai, Nong Khai, Chanthaburi, and Padang Besar. In November, it was reported that the Thai cabinet had approved the plan, with the shorter route to Chanthaburi being intended for construction first. The total cost of all routes are 800 billion baht or US$25 billion.In October 2010, the Thai parliament approved initial proposals for a high-speed rail network to be built with Chinese industrial partners; 5 lines capable of 250 km/h would radiate from Bangkok. After the new election of Shinawatra, plans for Bangkok-Korat and Pattaya-Bangkok-Hua Hin have been pushed over the former 5 routes. In May 2015, Transport Minister Prajin Juntong and his Japanese counterpart Akihiro Ota had signed a deal on 27 May 2015.
Vietnam
Vietnam's national railway company, Vietnam Railways, has proposed a high-speed rail link between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, capable of running at. The funding of the $56 billion line would mostly come from the Vietnamese government, with the help of Japanese aid. Technology used on the Japanese Shinkansen has been suggested to be used for this new railway.Current technology allows trains travelling on the current, single-track Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City line to complete the journey in approximately thirty hours. Once completed, the high-speed rail line would have 2 parallel standard gauge tracks with no direct road crossings, and would allow trains to complete the Hanoi–Ho Chi Minh City journey in approximately 6 hours. The existing line uses narrow gauge tracks common in Southeast Asia.
Vietnamese prime minister Nguyễn Tấn Dũng had originally set an ambitious target to complete the line by 2013, three years sooner than the previously announced nine-year construction time. Later reports suggested Japanese development aid would only be available in stages, with completion of the line not expected until the mid-2030s; the same reports asserted that aid would be conditioned upon the export of Shinkansen technology. On 19 June 2010, after a month of deliberation, Vietnam's National Assembly rejected the high-speed rail proposal due to its high cost, leaving the project's future in doubt; National Assembly deputies are said to have asked for further study of the project.
In January 2011, Vietnamese Minister of Transport, Hồ Nghĩa Dũng, suggested the line might be completed by 2030. The length of the proposed line was listed as 1555 km long with trains running at 300 km/h. After the rejection of the original plan by the house of deputies, Minister Dung has asked for a new feasibility plan by the end of 2011, whilst the Japanese development agency has suggested an interim solution where the line could be built to separate north and south sections.
Europe
Belarus
- In 2017 Belarus authorities agreed to offer land territories to Chinese corporation CRCC for construction of high-speed corridor between EU and Russia through country territory. Chinese engineering companies are also interested in building highways and russian high-speed railways running in connection with this route with possible interchange with Moscow-Kazan high-speed corridor. In 2019 Belarus also participated in discussion of future St. Petersburg - Hamburg high speed rail corridor, but it is not yet added to official proposals.
Belgium
Denmark
- There are plans to upgrade the existing railway Ringsted–Odense to 200 km/h or more. Also Ringsted–Rødbyhavn which however in part is too curvy for that.
- There are plans to build a new railway for 250 km/h Odense–Aarhus.
Finland
- ELSA-rata: a proposed rail link between Helsinki and Turku with planned maximum speed of
- Plans exist for a high-speed connection between Helsinki and Tampere with a travel time of one hour through the planned Lentorata tunnel from Helsinki to Kerava via Helsinki Airport station, and either upgrade the Riihimäki–Tampere railway to high speed standard or build a new parallel line.
- An eastern high-speed line between Helsinki and Kouvola via the airport and Porvoo is also planned.
Hungary
Iceland
49 km of airport rail link is under planning.Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
Reykjavik Airport Rail Link | 250 km/h | 49 km | Planned | 2023 |
Netherlands
The proposed HSL-Oost line was cancelled in 2009. The existing line from Amsterdam to Utrecht is four-tracked. 2 tracks out of 4 are capable for 200 km/h, but electrification voltage is not enough, the line is planned to be re-electrified to 25 kV AC.Norway
- The Norwegian government has examined five long distance high-speed lines radiating out from Oslo to Bergen, Kristiansand/Stavanger, Trondheim, Gothenburg, and Stockholm. A sixth line would be a coastal line between Bergen, Haugesund and Stavanger. At least two investigations on cost and benefit have been made, released 2007 and 2012. These plans were shelved in 2013, although still open for restart in a decade or so.
- There are ongoing and coming projects for high-speed upgrades on the closest 50–100 km from Oslo on each of these lines. They have good potential for regional trains. Upgrade and new construction to high-speed standard have to some extent already taken place like for Gardermobanen. The time plan is to have 200 km/h or more from Oslo to Porsgrunn, to Hamar and to Råde east of Moss around 2020–2025, and to Halden and Hønefoss later, maybe 2030.
Poland
- Warsaw to Poznań and Wrocław via Łódź
- Warszawa-Toruń-Gdańsk high-speed railway
- Central Rail Line was designed for speeds of up to 250 km/h. 200 km/h is used in commercial service, however higher speeds are planned later.
Russia
Line name | Start and end points | Maximum speed | Opening | Length |
High Speed Main Line | Zhelesnodorozhnaya –Gorokhovetz | or | Planned, to be built until 2024, construction delayed | |
High Speed Main Line | Gorokhovetz–Kazan | or | To be constructed after 2024 | |
High Speed Main Line | Kazan–Naberezhnye Chelny | or | Proposed in 2019 |
Sweden
Many of the newly built railway lines in Sweden are adapted for speeds up to 250 km/h as Botniabanan, Grödingebanan, Mälarbanan, Svealandsbanan, Västkustbanan, Vänernbanan.The problem that is slowing down high-speed rail in Sweden is the present signaling system, which does not allow speeds over 200 km/h. It can be upgraded, but it will not be done since it shall be replaced by the European signaling system ERTMS level 2 on major lines in the near future, allowing high speeds up to 250 km/h. ERTMS level 2 has been installed and is being tried out on Botniabanan, and that railway allows 250 km/h, although no passenger train goes above 200 for now. The train set X55-Regina has been delivered to the rail company SJ with the max speed of 200 km/h but with the option to upgrade the EMU to 250 km/h when possible. Also the mix with freight trains slow down the practical speed.
There are four major high-speed projects proposed in Sweden with speeds between 250 and 350 km/h.
- Norrbotniabanan, Umeå – Luleå, is a future major rail project that will be built for 250 km/h with mixed passenger and freight traffic in northern Sweden, mainly to relieve the highly congested and old single track Main Line Through Upper Norrland increase freight traffic, and greatly speed up passenger traffic along the coast.
- Ostlänken: Järna – Linköping, which would relieve the congested and slow conventional main lines on the stretch Järna-Linköping, Södra stambanan.
- Götalandsbanan: Gothenburg – Jönköping – Linköping on to Stockholm via Ostlänken. It would reduce travel time Gothenburg-Stockholm from 3.05 h to 2h.
- Europabanan: Jönköping – Lund. Possibly extended to Helsingborg, Helsingör and Copenhagen.
The Swedish Liberal government decided in 2012 to build Ostlänken, but with mostly max 250 km/h, after putting all projects on hold in the budget of 2011. The socialist government entering in 2019 stated they want to build them, as of 2019 construction has to start on all lines.
Ukraine
In the early 2000s, Ukraine planned to build 2593 km of upgraded high speed rail tracks between 2005 and 2015. The rolling stock was purchased in 2010. However, the maximum operating speed in Ukraine is still 160 km/h, and subsequent lack of maintenance has caused a number of derailments.In 2011, a Moscow-Kiev high-speed line was proposed, but Ukraine canceled the project following the 2014 conflict between the two countries. Russia, which had already purchased the rolling stock for the planned rail line to Kiev, instead deployed the trains on the Moscow-Nizhny Novgorod line. In October 2017, it was claimed that a 330 km line between Lviv and Warsaw would begin construction in 2018, but the project has yet to break ground.
United Kingdom
High Speed 2 is a planned high-speed railway to directly link the city centres of: London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.Construction work on the first phase of HS2 began in 2017 with an indicated opening date in 2026, while completion of the entire network planned in 2033.
- Phase one is to route between London Euston and the new Birmingham Curzon Street railway station.
- Phase two will create two branch lines from Birmingham running north either side of the Pennines creating a "Y" network. The western section of the "Y" route connects to the northbound WCML at Bamfurlong south of Wigan, with a branch to the existing Manchester Piccadilly station. The eastern section of the "Y" routes to the proposed Leeds New Lane station via the proposed East Midlands Hub which will be located at Toton between Derby and Nottingham. The East Midlands Hub will serve Derby, Leicester and Nottingham. The eastern branch will also serve Sheffield via a new edge of city station at Meadowhall Interchange. Other cities and towns such as Carlisle, Crewe, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, Preston and York will be linked to the network via HS2 trains running over existing slower classic tracks, or edge-of-town HS2 stations.
HS4Air was a proposed connection between High Speed 1 and High Speed 2 via airports. It had several ideas, which first appeared in the earlier Heathwick project. The project was rejected by the government in December 2018.
Beyond HS2 Report. In May 2018, Greengauge 21 released a report entitled ‘Beyond HS2’ which looked at how the rail network could develop by 2050. It proposed several projects:
- New High Speed Line from Colchester and Cambridge to Stratford
- A New Higher Speed Line from Perth and Dundee to the Shotts Line
- A new High Speed Line avoiding Motherwell
- A new connection between the HS2 Eastern Leg and Kingsbury allowing services to continue to Bristol, Cardiff and Plymouth via Cheltenham Spa.
- A new link between WCML and Crossrail
- A new link between Langley and Heathrow
- A new link between Richmond and Waterloo to Heathrow T2
- A new link between Heathrow and Staines
- A new Northern Powerhouse Rail
- A new line between Darlington and Newcastle
North America
Canada
Although Canada does not currently have high-speed rail lines, there have been two routes frequently proposed as suitable for a high-speed rail corridor:A possible international high-speed rail link between Montreal and Boston or New York City is often discussed by regional leaders, though little progress has been made. On another international line between Vancouver and Seattle, work is in progress to improve the existing Amtrak Cascades service, though it will not reach speeds normally associated with high-speed rail. The Conservative Government elected in 2018 postponed its decision on high-speed lines, but still hopes to make efforts in that direction.
Mexico
The Secretariat of Communications and Transport of Mexico proposed a high-speed rail link that would transport passengers from Mexico City to Guadalajara, Jalisco, with stops in the cities of Querétaro, Guanajuato, Leon and Irapuato; and a connected line running from the port city of Manzanillo to Aguascalientes. The train which would travel at 300 km/h allows passengers to travel from Mexico City to Guadalajara in just 2 hours at an affordable price. The network would also connect the network to Monterrey, Chilpancingo, Cuernavaca, Toluca, Puebla, Tijuana, Hermosillo, Cordoba, Veracruz, Oaxaca, Colima, Zacatecas, Torreon, Chihuahua, Puebla, San Luis Potosi, Mexicali Saltillo and Acapulco by 2015. The whole project was projected to cost 240 billion pesos, or about 25 billion dollars. Mexican billionaire Carlos Helú expressed an interest in investing in high-speed rail. Most recently the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico has highlighted as one of the most probable areas for the development of high-speed rail in Latin America with the Transpeninsular Fast Train for bidding in September 2011.By 2014 the route for the 1st phase of the Mexico City-Guadalajara HST has been selected, this 1st stage will operate from the Buenavista station in Mexico City to Querétaro with a length of 212 km of high speed line. The HST will be further extended into the city of Guadalajara with an immediately extension after the 1st stage to the cities of Celaya, Salamanca, Irapuato and Leon. The 1st phase must be completed by 2018.
The first High Speed Line in Latin America has been announced in July 2014 with the opening of an international tender to build a passenger train linking Mexico City and Querétaro at up to 300 km/h, moving 23,000 passengers a day. The line will be extended over 210 km, construction begins this year and operations would start in the second half of 2017.
On 6 November 2014, Mexico's president, announced that the proposed bullet train will be postponed because there was only one bidder. Falling oil prices and the economic downturn are also believed to have played a role in the decision.
Panama
In 2019, China approached the Panamanian government with a feasibility plan for a 391 kilometer high speed line from Panama City to the Costa Rican border. This would be financed partially under China's Belt and Road Initiative. No further action has been taken on this proposal.United States
trains are the only true high-speed trainsets in the United States. Amtrak uses them on a high-speed service between Washington, D.C. and Boston via New York City and Philadelphia along the Northeast Corridor in the Northeast United States. The tilting design allows the train to travel at higher speeds on the sharply curved NEC without disturbing passengers, by lowering lateral forces.There has been a resurgence of interest in recent decades, with many plans being examined for high-speed rail across the country:
- In 2002, the Texas High Speed Rail & Transportation Corporation , a grass roots organization dedicated to bringing high-speed rail to Texas, was established. In 2006, American Airlines and Continental Airlines formally joined THSRTC in an effort to bring high-speed rail to Texas as a passenger collector system for the airlines.
- The California High-Speed Rail Authority was created in 1996 by the state to implement an extensive rail system that is estimated to cost about $40 billion. Once built, the system will not require operating subsidies, and it is expected to generate $1 billion in annual profits. Construction has been approved with the passing of proposition 1A, in which a $9.95 billion general obligation bond was authorized by voters. The system would provide high-speed service between and among major cities, like Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego, and would allow travel between Los Angeles' Union Station and San Francisco's Transbay Terminal in two and a half hours. On 2 December 2010, the California High-Speed Rail Authority announced the first section of the Californian High-Speed Rail network had been selected and construction was to start in 2012, but delays postponed it to 2015. The line will run from near Madera south to Bakersfield, with stations at Fresno and Hanford, at a length of 105 km running through a rural part of the San Joaquin Valley. The line will connect with traditional Amtrak lines at each end. In December 2010, that funding was doubled after the newly elected governors of Ohio and Wisconsin decided to cancel right of way projects which had been allocated $1.2bn of funding by the federal government. Of that amount, $616mn was then granted to California in addition to funding already promised, which, when combined with a state bond issue to match the new funding, provided over $1.2bn in addition funding. This will be used to add an additional 88 km of track, bringing the line to the edge of Bakersfield.
- Desert Xpress proposes 125 to 150 M.P.H. electric trains running between Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada.
- In September 2010, Amtrak unveiled proposals for 355 km/h trains to run between Washington, D.C. and Boston, stopping at various cities along the way, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New York. The end-to-end journey time would be 3 hours. The proposals would cost $117bn and would take 25 years to complete. Amtrak estimates that the capacity would be needed, as, even after current investment programs, the Acela trains will be full by 2030. The proposal envisages completion by 2040.
- is seeking to build a privately financed high speed rail line between Rochester and Minneapolis-St. Paul. The line is expected to cost $4.2 billion to build. The eventual goal is to extend high-speed rail service to Chicago.
Oceania
Australia
There have been several proposals to develop a HSR line between Sydney and Canberra to link the two cities and to provide an effective second airport for Sydney. The line is also proposed to eventually continue on to Melbourne. It is worth noting that the SYD-MEL air traffic corridor is one of the busiest in the world, HSR would allow for journey times city center to city center quicker than flights plus associated procedures and travel. In September 2010, Infrastructure Partnership Australia and AECOM proposed an east coast very fast train corridor from the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane and onto Sydney, Canberra and through to Melbourne.Line | Speed | Length | Construction began | Expected start of revenue services |
Geelong Line | 300 km/h | 71 km | Proposed | 2020s |
South America
Argentina
A Buenos Aires-Rosario-Córdoba high-speed railway was planned, operating at speeds of 320 km/h. Construction was scheduled to begin in 2008 and work was expected to take around four years, but the project is currently "on hold" due to the financial crisis.The project would join the cities of Buenos Aires and Rosario at a distance of and Córdoba at a distance of.
Other projected high-speed rail lines include:
- Buenos Aires-Mar del Plata : A new line to the seaside beach resort city and major fishing port of Mar del Plata, south of Buenos Aires city is in the planning stages.
- Buenos Aires-Mendoza .
Brazil
Proposed:
- Brasília – Goiânia – Rio Verde – Itumbiara – Uberlândia – Uberaba – Ribeirão Preto – Campinas – São Paulo – Rio de Janeiro.
- Belo Horizonte – São Paulo.
- Curitiba – São Paulo.
- Santos – São Paulo.
- Brasília – Goiânia.
Proposed commercial speed: 350 km/h
Government mandatory stations: Rio de Janeiro Centre, Rio de Janeiro Intl Airport, Volta Redonda/Barra Mansa, São José dos Campos, São Paulo/Guarulhos Intl Airport, São Paulo Centre, São Paulo/Viracopos Intl Airport and Campinas Centre.
Cancelled due to current economic recession.