Flightmussy/trainrouter-atlas huggingface dataset:
Guiyang–Nanning HSR — Guiyang to Nanning (high-speed)
Train: CR400AF Fuxing
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 482 km
Top speed: 350 km/h
Duration: 2 h 53 min
Opened: 2023
Countries: China
350 km/h through Guizhou–Guangxi karst on a line that is mostly bridge and tunnel, passing the Libo World Heritage limestone scenery.
Nanning–Kunming HSR — Nanning to Kunming (high-speed)
Train: CRH380A
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 716 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 4 h 30 min
Opened: 2016
Countries: China
Crosses the folded uplands and Nanpan River gorges between Guangxi and Yunnan’s capital, Kunming.
Chengdu–Guiyang HSR — Chengdu to Guiyang (high-speed)
Train: CRH380D
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 648 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 3 h
Opened: 2019
Countries: China
Billed as the first high-speed railway through such deeply folded karst, spanning Jinsha River gorges on some of the world’s highest rail bridges.
Yinchuan–Xi’an HSR — Yinchuan to Xi’an (high-speed)
Train: CR300BF Fuxing
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 618 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 3 h
Opened: 2020
Countries: China
The first bullet line to reach Ningxia, climbing the Loess Plateau and Ziwuling forests from Yellow River Yinchuan to Xi’an.
Zhengzhou–Jinan HSR — Zhengzhou to Jinan (high-speed)
Train: CR400AF Fuxing
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 407 km
Top speed: 350 km/h
Duration: 1 h 40 min
Opened: 2023
Countries: China
A fast diagonal across the North China Plain that crosses the Yellow River to knot together two provincial capitals.
Baoji–Lanzhou HSR — Baoji to Lanzhou (high-speed)
Train: CRH2G · CR300BF
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 401 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 2 h
Opened: 2017
Countries: China
The final link of the east–west corridor to Lanzhou, over 90% bridge and loess tunnel, tracing the old Silk Road past Tianshui.
Chengdu–Ya’an Railway — Chengdu to Ya’an (classic)
Train: CRH6A
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 140 km
Top speed: 200 km/h
Duration: 1 h 12 min
Opened: 2018
Countries: China
The first completed stretch of the epic Sichuan–Tibet railway, heading west from Chengdu along the old Tea-Horse Road toward the plateau.
Lhasa–Shigatse Railway — Lhasa to Shigatse (scenic)
Train: 25T plateau coaches
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 253 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 2 h 40 min
Opened: 2014
Countries: China
A high-altitude spur off the Qinghai–Tibet line, tunnelling through the mountains to trace the Yarlung Tsangpo canyon to Tibet’s second city.
Dali–Lijiang Railway — Dali to Lijiang (scenic)
Train: SS7C · 25-series coaches
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 165 km
Top speed: 140 km/h
Duration: 2 h
Opened: 2009
Countries: China
Climbs from Dali’s Erhai Lake toward the Jade Dragon Snow Mountain and the old town of Lijiang, nearly all on bridges and through tunnels.
Erdenet Railway — Ulaanbaatar to Erdenet (night)
Train: 2TE116 · sleeper
Operator: Ulaanbaatar Railway
Distance: 390 km
Top speed: 80 km/h
Duration: 11 h 25 min
Opened: 1977
Countries: Mongolia
Overnight sleeper north from the capital to the Soviet-built copper city of Erdenet, branching off the Trans-Mongolian near Darkhan.
Zamyn-Üüd Express — Ulaanbaatar to Zamyn-Üüd (night)
Train: 2M62 · sleeper
Operator: Ulaanbaatar Railway
Distance: 606 km
Top speed: 120 km/h
Duration: 14 h
Opened: 1955
Countries: Mongolia
The domestic overnight across the Gobi Desert from Ulaanbaatar to the Chinese-border town of Zamyn-Üüd, halting at Choir and Sainshand.
Tulpar-Talgo — Almaty to Shymkent (classic)
Train: Tulpar-Talgo
Operator: Kazakhstan Railways (KTZ)
Distance: 700 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 11 h
Opened: 2015
Countries: Kazakhstan
A Spanish-built Talgo hauled across the Kazakh steppe between Almaty and the southern city of Shymkent via Taraz.
Afrosiyob — Tashkent to Bukhara (high-speed)
Train: Talgo 250
Operator: Uzbekistan Railways
Distance: 600 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 3 h 40 min
Opened: 2016
Countries: Uzbekistan
Central Asia’s fastest train, a Talgo 250 racing the Kyzylkum steppe to link Tashkent and Samarkand with Silk Road Bukhara.
Uzbekistan Express — Tashkent to Andijan (classic)
Train: electric express
Operator: Uzbekistan Railways
Distance: 420 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 5 h 30 min
Opened: 2016
Countries: Uzbekistan
Electrified line into the crowded Fergana Valley through the 19.2 km Kamchik Tunnel, Central Asia’s longest, ending reliance on transit via Tajikistan.
Trans-Caspian Express — Ashgabat to Turkmenbashi (classic)
Train: CKD9A · sleeper
Operator: Türkmendemirýollary
Distance: 580 km
Top speed: 100 km/h
Duration: 12 h
Opened: 1885
Countries: Turkmenistan
The historic Trans-Caspian line along the Karakum Desert’s edge, from Ashgabat to Turkmenistan’s lone Caspian port at Türkmenbaşy.
Dushanbe–Kulob Express — Dushanbe to Kulob (classic)
Train: TE33A · coaches
Operator: Tajik Railways
Distance: 270 km
Top speed: 80 km/h
Duration: 7 h
Opened: 2016
Countries: Tajikistan
A weekly train made possible only in 2016, when a Chinese-built link finally joined Dushanbe to Tajikistan’s once-isolated southern railway.
Zhanghu HSR — Zhangjiakou to Hohhot (high-speed)
Train: CR400BF Fuxing
Operator: China Railway
Distance: 286 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 1 h 30 min
Opened: 2019
Countries: China
Sweeps across the Inner Mongolian plateau via Ulanqab; linked to the Beijing–Zhangjiakou line it put Hohhot about two hours from Beijing.
ICE — Berlin to Cologne (high-speed)
Train: ICE 4 · Class 412
Operator: DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 573 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 4 h 8 min
Opened: 1998
Countries: Germany
Races the length of the North German Plain; the dead-straight Hanover–Berlin racetrack, partly laid on old border land, lets ICE 4 sets hold 250 km/h.
ICE — Frankfurt to Munich (high-speed)
Train: ICE 3 · Class 403
Operator: DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 410 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 3 h 15 min
Opened: 2006
Countries: Germany
Sprints down the 300 km/h Nuremberg–Ingolstadt high-speed line, one of Germany’s fastest, on gradients so steep that freight trains are banned.
ICE — Hamburg to Frankfurt (high-speed)
Train: ICE 1 · Class 401
Operator: DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 490 km
Top speed: 280 km/h
Duration: 3 h 34 min
Opened: 1991
Countries: Germany
Runs the Hanover–Würzburg route, Germany’s first Neubaustrecke of 1991, boring through a chain of long tunnels beneath the hills of Hesse.
ICE — Berlin to Frankfurt (high-speed)
Train: ICE 3 Velaro D
Operator: DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 545 km
Top speed: 280 km/h
Duration: 3 h 56 min
Opened: 1991
Countries: Germany
Joins the political and banking capitals via Kassel and the Fulda gap, the Velaro D holding 250 km/h over the wooded ridges of northern Hesse.
ICE — Stuttgart to Munich (high-speed)
Train: ICE 3 Velaro D
Operator: DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 241 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 2 h 13 min
Opened: 2022
Countries: Germany
Opened in December 2022, the Wendlingen–Ulm line tunnels under the Swabian Jura and cut the Stuttgart–Ulm leg to just 42 minutes.
ICE — Berlin to Basel (high-speed)
Train: ICE 1 · Class 401
Operator: DB Fernverkehr
Distance: 843 km
Top speed: 280 km/h
Duration: 7 h 7 min
Opened: 1991
Countries: Germany|Switzerland
Crosses Germany from end to end, Berlin to the Swiss border, finishing down the Upper Rhine past Freiburg to Basel in about seven hours.
ICE International — Berlin to Amsterdam (high-speed)
Train: ICE 3neo · Class 408
Operator: DB / NS
Distance: 660 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 5 h 42 min
Opened: 2000
Countries: Germany|Netherlands
Upgraded to new ICE 3neo trains in late 2025, replacing loco-hauled Intercitys on the roughly six-hour cross-border run to the Dutch capital.
ICE International — Amsterdam to Frankfurt (high-speed)
Train: ICE 3M · Class 406
Operator: DB / NS
Distance: 440 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 3 h 56 min
Opened: 2000
Countries: Netherlands|Germany
ICE 3M multi-system sets leave Amsterdam and, past Cologne, dive onto the 300 km/h Cologne–Rhine/Main line with its motorway-style gradients.
Moselstrecke — Koblenz to Trier (scenic)
Train: RE 1 · IC
Operator: DB Regio Südwest
Distance: 113 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 1 h 30 min
Opened: 1879
Countries: Germany
Follows the wine-terraced Moselle past Cochem, crossing the river on the historic two-tier Alf–Bullay bridge below Germany’s steepest vineyards.
Rübelandbahn — Blankenburg to Rübeland (scenic)
Train: Steam · 95 027
Operator: ArGe Rübelandbahn
Distance: 14 km
Top speed: 50 km/h
Duration: 50 min
Opened: 1886
Countries: Germany
Heritage steam storms a fierce Harz grade once worked by rack rail; the 1926 tank engine 95 027, the Bergkönigin, still climbs to the caves at Rübeland.
Molli — Bad Doberan to Kühlungsborn (scenic)
Train: Steam · 900 mm
Operator: Mecklenburgische Bäderbahn Molli
Distance: 15 km
Top speed: 45 km/h
Duration: 40 min
Opened: 1886
Countries: Germany
A rare 900 mm-gauge steam line running since 1886, Molli puffs right down the middle of Bad Doberan’s tree-lined avenue on its way to the Baltic shore.
Rasender Roland — Putbus to Göhren (scenic)
Train: Steam · 750 mm
Operator: Rügensche BäderBahn
Distance: 24 km
Top speed: 30 km/h
Duration: 1 h 6 min
Opened: 1895
Countries: Germany
Nicknamed the Racing Roland, this 750 mm-gauge steam railway has linked Rügen’s white-sand Baltic resorts of Binz, Sellin and Göhren since 1895.
Zittauer Schmalspurbahn — Zittau to Oybin (scenic)
Train: Steam · 750 mm
Operator: SOEG
Distance: 12 km
Top speed: 40 km/h
Duration: 45 min
Opened: 1890
Countries: Germany
750 mm-gauge steam climbs from Zittau to the sandstone crags of the Zittau Mountains, serving the pilgrimage village of Oybin since 1890.
Intercity — Amsterdam to Groningen (classic)
Train: ICM "Koploper"
Operator: NS
Distance: 205 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 2 h 11 min
Opened: 1870
Countries: Netherlands
The northbound Intercity crosses the reclaimed polders and the low Hondsrug ridge to reach Groningen from Amsterdam in a little over two hours.
Intercity — Amsterdam to Maastricht (classic)
Train: DD-IRM "VIRM"
Operator: NS
Distance: 213 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 2 h 23 min
Opened: 1865
Countries: Netherlands
Double-deck VIRM Intercitys run almost the whole length of the country to Maastricht, the old Dutch city on the Meuse near the Belgian border.
Intercity Direct — Amsterdam to Breda (classic)
Train: ICNG · Class 3100
Operator: NS
Distance: 123 km
Top speed: 200 km/h
Duration: 1 h 8 min
Opened: 2009
Countries: Netherlands
New ICNG trains take the HSL-Zuid high-speed line, hitting 200 km/h as they link Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Breda without a change.
Miljoenenlijn — Schin op Geul to Kerkrade (scenic)
Train: Steam · ZLSM
Operator: ZLSM
Distance: 17 km
Top speed: 40 km/h
Duration: 1 h
Opened: 1934
Countries: Netherlands
Nicknamed the Million Line for its ruinously costly cuttings and viaducts, this steam railway climbs the only real hills in the Netherlands, in South Limburg.
Intercity — Brussels to Ostend (classic)
Train: M6 · HLE 27
Operator: SNCB
Distance: 123 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 1 h 12 min
Opened: 1838
Countries: Belgium
One of Belgium’s original 1838 trunk lines, running dead-flat across Flanders through Ghent and Bruges to the North Sea ferry port of Ostend.
Intercity — Brussels to Liège (classic)
Train: M6 double-deck
Operator: SNCB
Distance: 95 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 1 h
Opened: 1842
Countries: Belgium
Terminates beneath Santiago Calatrava’s soaring white vault of steel and glass at Liège-Guillemins, one of Europe’s boldest modern stations.
Intercity — Brussels to Luxembourg (classic)
Train: I11 · HLE 18
Operator: SNCB / CFL
Distance: 219 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 3 h 5 min
Opened: 1858
Countries: Belgium|Luxembourg
Climbs from Brussels through the forested Ardennes via Namur and Arlon; planned upgrades aim to cut the three-hour run to Luxembourg below two hours by 2030.
Intercity — Antwerp to Brussels (classic)
Train: M6 double-deck
Operator: SNCB
Distance: 45 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 35 min
Opened: 1836
Countries: Belgium
Traces the route of continental Europe’s first passenger railway of 1835 and ends under the vast domed railway cathedral of Antwerpen-Centraal.
Kusttram — De Panne to Knokke (scenic)
Train: Coast tram
Operator: De Lijn
Distance: 67 km
Top speed: 70 km/h
Duration: 2 h 20 min
Opened: 1885
Countries: Belgium
The world’s longest tram line: 67 km of metre-gauge track hugging the entire Belgian coast from De Panne to Knokke, calling at 68 stops.
Intercity — Luxembourg to Liège (scenic)
Train: CFL · SNCB EMU
Operator: CFL / SNCB
Distance: 156 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 2 h 39 min
Opened: 1867
Countries: Luxembourg|Belgium
A cross-border Intercity threading the wooded Éislek and the Ourthe and Amblève valleys, one of the prettiest rail rides in the Ardennes.
RE 11 Mosel — Luxembourg to Koblenz (classic)
Train: SÜWEX · CFL
Operator: CFL / DB Regio
Distance: 159 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 2 h 18 min
Opened: 1879
Countries: Luxembourg|Germany
The RE 11 follows the Moselle from Luxembourg into Germany, boring through the 4.2 km Kaiser-Wilhelm-Tunnel at Cochem to bypass the river’s huge loop.
TER — Luxembourg to Longwy (classic)
Train: CFL Class 2200
Operator: CFL / SNCF
Distance: 28 km
Top speed: 140 km/h
Duration: 37 min
Opened: 1880
Countries: Luxembourg|France
A short cross-border hop from Luxembourg’s Ville-Haute down to the old French steel town of Longwy, one of the busiest daily commuter runs into the Grand Duchy.
Marschbahn — Hamburg to Westerland (classic)
Train: IC · BR 245
Operator: DB
Distance: 235 km
Top speed: 140 km/h
Duration: 2 h 55 min
Opened: 1927
Countries: Germany
Reaches the car-free island of Sylt over the 11 km Hindenburgdamm causeway of 1927, a dead-straight embankment laid across the tidal Wadden Sea.
TGV inOui — Paris to Lyon (high-speed)
Train: TGV Duplex
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 427 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 1 h 57 min
Opened: 1981
Countries: France
France’s first high-speed line, opened in 1981 — the Paris–Lyon route that launched the whole TGV era, now run in under two hours.
TGV inOui — Paris to Rennes (high-speed)
Train: TGV Atlantique
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 350 km
Top speed: 320 km/h
Duration: 1 h 25 min
Opened: 1989
Countries: France
The 2017 Bretagne–Pays de la Loire high-speed line cut Paris–Rennes to 1 h 25 min, sending TGVs racing across Brittany at 320 km/h.
TGV inOui — Paris to Nantes (high-speed)
Train: TGV 2N2 Euroduplex
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 385 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 1 h 59 min
Opened: 1989
Countries: France
TGV Atlantique sweeps from Paris to the Loire estuary city of Nantes in about two hours, topping 300 km/h across the plains of the west.
TGV Lyria — Paris to Geneva (high-speed)
Train: Euroduplex (TGV 2N2)
Operator: Lyria
Distance: 410 km
Top speed: 320 km/h
Duration: 3 h 8 min
Opened: 1981
Countries: France|Switzerland
A Lyria Euroduplex glides from Paris into Switzerland at Genève-Cornavin; the 2010 Haut-Bugey line trimmed the run to about three hours.
Ouigo — Paris to Lyon (high-speed)
Train: TGV Duplex
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 427 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 1 h 57 min
Opened: 2013
Countries: France
SNCF’s low-cost double-decker TGV, launched in 2013 with fares from €10, races Paris to Lyon at up to 300 km/h.
TGV inOui — Paris to Nice (high-speed)
Train: TGV Duplex
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 1088 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 5 h 42 min
Opened: 2001
Countries: France
France’s longest domestic TGV run — 300 km/h to Marseille, then the classic Riviera coast line hugging the Mediterranean to Nice.
TGV inOui — Paris to Lille (high-speed)
Train: TGV Réseau
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 225 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 1 h 2 min
Opened: 1993
Countries: France
The dead-straight LGV Nord links Paris to Lille in just 62 minutes at 300 km/h, France’s fastest big-city hop.
Intercités — Paris to Clermont-Ferrand (classic)
Train: BB 26000 + Corail
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 420 km
Top speed: 200 km/h
Duration: 3 h 25 min
Opened: 1855
Countries: France
The Bourbonnais line to the Auvergne volcanoes; new Oxygène trainsets arrive from 2026 to retire its veteran Corail carriages.
Intercités — Paris to Toulouse (classic)
Train: BB 26000 + Corail
Operator: SNCF
Distance: 713 km
Top speed: 200 km/h
Duration: 6 h 20 min
Opened: 1856
Countries: France
The cross-country POLT line — Paris-Orléans-Limoges-Toulouse — threads 713 km through the Massif Central on France’s classic north–south artery.
Train des Pignes — Nice to Digne-les-Bains (scenic)
Train: Autorail AMP 800
Operator: Chemins de fer de Provence
Distance: 151 km
Top speed: 70 km/h
Duration: 3 h 20 min
Opened: 1911
Countries: France
Metre-gauge “pine-cone train” climbing 151 km from Nice to Digne over some 25 tunnels and 16 viaducts, inaugurated in 1911.
Train des Merveilles — Nice to Tende (scenic)
Train: X 76500 AGC
Operator: SNCF (TER Sud PACA)
Distance: 89 km
Top speed: 90 km/h
Duration: 2 h
Opened: 1928
Countries: France
Spirals up the wild Roya valley past the Bronze-Age rock carvings of the Vallée des Merveilles, looping through helicoidal tunnels to Tende at 1,040 m.
Mont-Blanc Express — Saint-Gervais to Martigny (scenic)
Train: Z 800
Operator: SNCF / TMR
Distance: 55 km
Top speed: 70 km/h
Duration: 1 h 50 min
Opened: 1908
Countries: France|Switzerland
A metre-gauge mountain line beneath Mont Blanc, using third-rail power and a rack section to climb the Chamonix valley from Saint-Gervais into Switzerland.
Chemins de fer de la Corse — Ajaccio to Bastia (scenic)
Train: AMG 800
Operator: CFC
Distance: 158 km
Top speed: 100 km/h
Duration: 3 h 45 min
Opened: 1894
Countries: France
Corsica’s beloved “U Trinichellu” crosses the island’s granite spine, piercing the 3.9 km Vizzavona tunnel at 906 m altitude.
AVE — Madrid to Alicante (high-speed)
Train: S-112 "Pato"
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 455 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 2 h 12 min
Opened: 2013
Countries: Spain
Branches off the Madrid–Levante high-speed line to reach the Costa Blanca, opened in 2013 and worked by S-112 “Pato” trainsets.
AVE — Madrid to Zaragoza (high-speed)
Train: S-103 Velaro
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 307 km
Top speed: 310 km/h
Duration: 1 h 15 min
Opened: 2003
Countries: Spain
The first stretch of Spain’s Madrid–Barcelona line (2003), crossing the Guadalajara plateau and Ebro valley to Zaragoza in 75 minutes.
AVE — Madrid to Ourense (high-speed)
Train: S-106 Avril · S-730 Alvia
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 496 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 2 h 15 min
Opened: 2021
Countries: Spain
Leaps into Galicia through 30 tunnels — including the 8.6 km O Corno tunnel — on the mountain-defying line opened in December 2021.
AVE — Madrid to Granada (high-speed)
Train: S-112 "Pato"
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 568 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 3 h 5 min
Opened: 2019
Countries: Spain
Opened in 2019, it branches off the Córdoba–Málaga line at Antequera to lift the AVE network into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.
Avlo — Madrid to Barcelona (high-speed)
Train: S-106 Avril
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 621 km
Top speed: 330 km/h
Duration: 2 h 30 min
Opened: 2021
Countries: Spain
Renfe’s low-cost AVE, launched June 2021 with fares from €7, blitzes Madrid–Barcelona at 330 km/h aboard Avril trainsets.
AVE — Barcelona to Málaga (high-speed)
Train: S-112 "Pato"
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 770 km
Top speed: 310 km/h
Duration: 5 h 52 min
Opened: 2013
Countries: Spain
A single high-speed run tying the Mediterranean to the Costa del Sol, skirting Madrid to stitch two AVE corridors together.
El Transcantábrico — San Sebastián to Santiago de Compostela (scenic)
Train: Metre-gauge saloon cars
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 1000 km
Top speed: 60 km/h
Duration: 8 days
Opened: 1983
Countries: Spain
Spain’s first hotel-train (1983): an eight-day, metre-gauge cruise along the green Cantabrian coast from the Basque Country to Galicia.
Tren dels Llacs — Lleida to La Pobla de Segur (scenic)
Train: Vintage “yeyé” railcar + coaches
Operator: FGC
Distance: 89 km
Top speed: 90 km/h
Duration: 2 h 30 min
Opened: 2006
Countries: Spain
A heritage “train of the lakes” climbing beside the Noguera Pallaresa past reservoirs and tunnels to the Pyrenean foothills.
El Expreso de La Robla — Bilbao to León (scenic)
Train: FEVE narrow-gauge saloons
Operator: Renfe
Distance: 335 km
Top speed: 60 km/h
Duration: 3 days
Opened: 2003
Countries: Spain
Retraces the historic La Robla coal railway, Spain’s longest narrow-gauge line, on a three-day luxury run between Bilbao and León.
Alfa Pendular — Lisbon to Faro (classic)
Train: CP 4000 Pendolino
Operator: CP
Distance: 278 km
Top speed: 220 km/h
Duration: 2 h 52 min
Opened: 2004
Countries: Portugal
Portugal’s tilting Pendolino leans into the curves at up to 220 km/h, sweeping down the Alentejo to the Algarve at Faro.
Intercidades — Lisbon to Guarda (classic)
Train: CP 5600 + Corail
Operator: CP
Distance: 353 km
Top speed: 160 km/h
Duration: 4 h 11 min
Opened: 1882
Countries: Portugal
Climbs the Beira Alta line to Guarda, Portugal’s highest city at 1,056 m, on the historic Sud Express path toward the Spanish border.
Presidential Train — Porto to Pocinho (scenic)
Train: Historic 1890 saloons
Operator: CP
Distance: 175 km
Top speed: 60 km/h
Duration: 1 day
Opened: 2016
Countries: Portugal
Royal-blue saloon carriages built from 1890, which once carried heads of state, now a fine-dining train up the terraced Douro wine valley.
Linha do Minho — Porto to Valença (classic)
Train: CP Regional
Operator: CP
Distance: 135 km
Top speed: 120 km/h
Duration: 2 h 30 min
Opened: 1882
Countries: Portugal
Hugs the Atlantic then the Minho river to the star-fort town of Valença, staring across the water at Spain’s Tui.
Linha do Oeste — Lisbon to Figueira da Foz (classic)
Train: CP Regional
Operator: CP
Distance: 203 km
Top speed: 100 km/h
Duration: 4 h
Opened: 1890
Countries: Portugal
A slow, winding single-track line through the vineyards and spa towns of Estremadura — Torres Vedras, Caldas da Rainha — to the Atlantic at Figueira da Foz.
Frecciarossa — Turin to Milan (high-speed)
Train: ETR 1000
Operator: Trenitalia
Distance: 150 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 1 h
Opened: 2009
Countries: Italy
A Frecciarossa 1000 hit 393.8 km/h on this Turin–Milan high-speed line in a 2016 test — an Italian rail speed record.
Frecciarossa — Milan to Naples (high-speed)
Train: ETR 1000
Operator: Trenitalia
Distance: 770 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 4 h 10 min
Opened: 2009
Countries: Italy
The 300 km/h spine of Italy — Milan–Bologna–Florence–Rome–Naples runs almost entirely on dedicated high-speed track finished in 2009.
Frecciarossa — Rome to Bari (high-speed)
Train: ETR 1000
Operator: Trenitalia
Distance: 450 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 4 h
Opened: 2012
Countries: Italy
South of Caserta the Freccia climbs through the Apennines to Foggia, then races across the Tavoliere plain to the Adriatic port of Bari.
Frecciargento — Rome to Reggio Calabria (high-speed)
Train: ETR 485
Operator: Trenitalia
Distance: 671 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 5 h
Opened: 2020
Countries: Italy
One of Italy’s longest Freccia runs — some 671 km down the Tyrrhenian coast, the tilting ETR 485 leaning through curves toward the Strait of Messina.
Italo — Milan to Rome (high-speed)
Train: AGV 575
Operator: Italo · NTV
Distance: 570 km
Top speed: 300 km/h
Duration: 2 h 59 min
Opened: 2012
Countries: Italy
Italo was Europe’s first private open-access high-speed operator; its Alstom AGV 575 links Milan and Rome in under three hours.
Frecciarossa — Milan to Trieste (high-speed)
Train: ETR 600
Operator: Trenitalia
Distance: 358 km
Top speed: 250 km/h
Duration: 4 h 8 min
Opened: 2023
Countries: Italy
A tilting ETR 600 Frecciarossa crosses the Po plain and Veneto from Milan to Trieste on the Adriatic, a run it took over in June 2023.
Ferrovia Circumetnea — Catania to Riposto (scenic)
Train: Vulcano DMU
Operator: Ferrovia Circumetnea
Distance: 110 km
Top speed: 70 km/h
Duration: 3 h 30 min
Opened: 1895
Countries: Italy
A 950 mm narrow-gauge line almost encircling Mount Etna, Europe’s most active volcano, threading black lava fields around Bronte and Randazzo.
Trenino Verde — Mandas to Arbatax (scenic)
Train: ADe railcar
Operator: ARST
Distance: 159 km
Top speed: 50 km/h
Duration: 5 h
Opened: 1893
Countries: Italy
At 159 km the longest tourist railway in Italy, this narrow-gauge line climbs to 868 m through the wild Ogliastra mountains to the sea at Arbatax.