The Second Age of Rail: A History of High-Speed Trains

Speed on steel wheels has fascinated engineers for nearly two centuries and a string of stunning records in the last twenty-five years has pushed railway engineering towards new frontiers. Japan pioneer of high-speed train technology set the precedent with its legendary bullet trains in 1964; since then a dozen countries have joined the high-speed revolution. Today China is setting the pace as it crafts a nationwide network of super-railways and Morocco and Saudi Arabia are on the cusp of launching trains that travel at 300km/h. The USA lags far behind outpaced by Asia and Western Europe where Eurostar links London to the international high-speed network although a new-generation railway to northern England is still missing. Here is the full story of high-speed trains retold in a journey across countries and continents. The Second Age of Rail is railway history in the making.