Then there is the logistics of trying to send a train faster along a track. Going fast means pushing air out of the way, which also requires a lot of power. A train travelling at 300mph (480km/h) uses roughly 27 times more power than one travelling at 100mph (160km/h). And at ground level the air is a lot denser than it is at 35,000ft (10,600m) where airliners regularly cruise. That means more resistance, and therefore more vibrations.

But train operators and companies are pushing for ever-greater speeds, and they have been trying out a range of innovative designs that they hope will make trains go super-fast and be ultra-comfortable at the same time.

If trains could travel just in straight lines and without any dips, then high speeds would not be a big issue. It’s the bends and the ups and downs that create a problem, especially in Europe, with its many rivers and mountains and old train lines following long-travelled routes.

Uncomfortable journeys



The first attempts to make trains tackle curves faster were made in the early 1970s, when an old concept well known to motorcyclists – leaning into the curve – was first applied to rail travel. That led to the first tilting trains. The idea was that passengers will feel less of the centrifugal forces of a high-speed train going into a bend when the whole train itself leans into the curve.