Dear Yahoo!:
What is the fastest train in the world?
Curious George
Shizuoka, Japan

Dear George:
A quick visit to Yahoo!'s High Speed Rail category revealed some interesting train facts. By browsing around the web sites listed here, we learned that the French and Japanese train makers have been duking it out for years; they measure their records by the average train speed from one station to the next.
The French held the world record for many years with their TGV lines, which radiate from Paris. The Nord-Europe line, one of the speediest, connects the City of Light to Lille, in France, then on to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany, or across the Channel to the UK through the Chunnel. These fast trains maintain an average speed of 157 miles per hour.

The Japanese Shinkansen line, however, really moves. With a top speed of 186 miles per hour, the Shinkansen Bullet Train averages 162 miles an hour between Hiroshima and Kokura stations. The Autobahn? Don't make us laugh.

Not to be outdone, the French are working on a new TGV line that will top the mythic 200 miles-per-hour barrier. Then you'll be able to commute to downtown Paris from your villa in Provence! Meantime, we turned up some detailed world speed records for different types of trains and a description of rail travel at 310 miles per hour using "Maglev" technology.