California is slowly advancing toward its goal of building a $69 billion high-speed rail network connecting San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
Despite an ongoing legal battle and some tremendous engineering challenges, construction is set to begin next summer.
Until the project is complete, American rail travelers will have to settle for Acela trains, which hit 150 mph.
While impressive compared to highway speeds, that's nothing next to what real high speed rail can do. Among the fastest in the world, these trains regularly top 200 mph and even crack above the 300 mph mark.
Travis Okulski contributed to this story.
11. Belgium's HSL-1 has been in service since 1997. The 186 mph top speed means it takes less than 90 minutes to get from Paris to Brussels.
Source: www.tiptoptens.com
10. With a top speed of 190 mph, the Italian ETR 500 goes from Milan to Bologna in an hour.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
9. The Eurostar connects London and Paris, traveling under the English Channel as fast as 199 mph.
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
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