As of 2026-07-08, L0 Series Shinkansen tops the list with 603 km/h.
- #1 L0 Series Shinkansen — 603 km/h
Japanese maglev train type
The L0 Series is a high-speed maglev train which the Central Japan Railway Company has been developing and testing. JR Central plans to use the L0 series on the Chūō Shinkansen railway line between Tokyo and Osaka, which is under construction. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #2 TGV 001 — 300 km/h
French high speed train prototype
The TGV 001 was an experimental gas turbine-powered TGV prototype built by Alstom in France. Commissioned in 1969, began testing in 1972 and reached speeds between 250–300 kilometres per hour (160–190 mph). It was part of a vast research program on high rail speeds which covered all technical aspects, principally traction, the behaviour of the vehicles, braking, aerodynamics and signalling. Originally, two trains were to be built, but only one was produced. The second was to be a tilting... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #3 Sokol — 250 km/h
prototype of a planned Russian high-speed train
Sokol was a planned high-speed train in Russia. It was to be a successor of the ER200 for use on the Moscow–St. Petersburg mainline, and was designed to operate at a cruising speed of 250 km/h. A prototype was built in 2000 and tested by Russian High Speed Railway Shareholding Co. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #4 Soviet locomotive class 2-3-2К — 170 km/h
Soviet experimental 4-6-4 locomotive class
The 2-3-2K was an experimental steam locomotive built in the Soviet Union for hauling express passenger trains. Designed at the Kolomna Works in Kolomna, two examples were constructed between 1937 and 1938. They operated express services before World War II. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #5 Pennsylvania Railroad S2 — 160 km/h
class of 1 American experimental 6-8-6 steam turbine locomotive
The Pennsylvania Railroad's S2 class was a one-off experimental prototype steam turbine locomotive designed and built in a collaborative effort by Baldwin Locomotive Works and Westinghouse Electric & Manufacturing Company, as an attempt to prolong the dominance of the steam locomotive by adapting technology that had been widely accepted in the marine industry. One was built, #6200, delivered in September 1944. The S2 was the sole example of the 6-8-6 wheel arrangement in the Whyte notation,... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #6 British Rail 18000 — 145 km/h
prototype British gas turbine locomotive
British Rail 18000 is a prototype mainline gas turbine–electric locomotive built for British Railways in 1949 by Brown, Boveri & Cie. An earlier gas-turbine locomotive, 18100, had been ordered from Metropolitan-Vickers by the Great Western Railway but construction was delayed due to World War II; a second, 18000, was thus ordered from Switzerland in 1946. It spent its working life on the Western Region of British Railways, operating express passenger services from Paddington station, London. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #7 English Electric GT3 — 145 km/h
prototype British gas-turbine locomotive
GT3 was a one-off experimental prototype mainline gas turbine locomotive built in 1961 by English Electric at its Vulcan Foundry in Newton-le-Willows to investigate the use of its gas turbines in rail traction applications. It followed 18000 and 18100 as gas turbines 1 and 2. It was designed by English Electric engineer J. O. P. Hughes in a project that started in the early 1950s. Externally it resembled a steam tender locomotive, but the tender carried kerosene fuel. The designer said the... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #8 SR Leader class — 145 km/h
Prototype dual cab steam locomotive
The Leader was a class of experimental 0-6-0+0-6-0T steam locomotive, produced in the United Kingdom to the design of the innovative engineer Oliver Bulleid. The Leader was an attempt to extend the life of steam traction by eliminating many of the operational drawbacks associated with existing steam locomotives. It was intended as a replacement for the ageing fleet of M7 class tank engines still in operation on the Southern Railway (SR). Design work began in 1946 and development continued after... Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #9 SNCF BB 69000 — 140 km/h
SNCF BB 69000 were a pair of two prototype high-power diesel-hydraulic locomotives, numbered BB 69001 and BB 69002. They were built at the same time, and for comparison with, as a diesel-electric version, CC 70000. The use of hydraulic transmission saved 30 tons in weight and enabled the locomotives to run on four axles instead of the six axles of the diesel-electric. Read more on Wikipedia.
Wikidata - #10 Schlörwagen — 135 km/h
1939 prototype German aerodynamic passenger car
source Wikidata