In 1997, Japan is the country with the fastest passenger trains in the world - the two Series 500 Nozomi services on the Hiroshima - Kokura section of the Sanyo Shinkansen (Shin Osaka - Hakata), operated by JR West - and has overtaken France, which held this honour in the years before.

Country	Train	From	To	Speed km/h
Japan	Nozomi 503/508	Hiroshima	Kokura	261.8
France	TGV 538/539	Lille Europe	Roissy CDG	254.3
International	4 Thalys	Paris Nord	Mons	211.2
Spain	AVE 9616/9617	Madrid P Atocha	Sevilla	209.1
Germany	2 ICEs	Würzburg	Fulda	199.7
Great Britain	Scottish Pullman	London Kings Cross	York	180.2
Sweden	2 X2000	Hässleholm	Alvesta	168.0
Italy	10 Pendolini	Firenze SMN	Roma Termini	164.9
USA	Metroliner 110	Baltimore	Wilmington	157.3
Finland	S220 132	Salo	Karjaa	151.7
Canada	Metropolis	Dorval	Toronto	141.0
Russia	ER200	St Petersburg	Moskwa	134.0
Poland	3 trains	Warszawa	Zawierce	131.0
Denmark	Lyntog 115/151	Høje Tåstrup	Odense	129.8
China	24 Fex `Z'	Guangzhou Dong	Shenzhen	127.4
Saudi Arabia	Trains 1/3	Al Hufuf	Ar Riyad	124.0
Ireland	2 trains	Dublin	Limerick Junction	123.0
Morocco	Al Quaraouyine	Mohammedia	Rabat Agdal	121.9
Austria	EN 224	St Pölten	Linz	121.8
Switzerland	3 Cisalpino	Lausanne	Sion	118.1
Greece	3 Intercity	Inoi	Levadia	117.5
Hungary	3 EuroCity	Györ	Hegyeshalom	117.5
Belgium	Many trains	Brussels Midi	Gent	116.2
Australia	2 XPTs	Albury	Wagga Wagga	115.5
Portugal	Alfa 120	Villa Nova de Gaia	Lisboa	115.2
Netherlands	IC 10524	Zwolle	Amersfoort	114.3
Korea	3 trains	Seoul	Taejôn West	110.4
Iran	20.10 ex-Mashhad	Damghan	Semnan	108.8
Israel	5 trains	Haifa Bat Galim	Tel Aviv Murkaz	108.0
Macedonia	Hellas Express	Titov Veles	Gevgeli	107.3
Egypt	Train 977	Luxor	Qena	106.3
Slovakia	4 trains	Nove Zemky	Bratislava	105.0
Romania	Train 386	Constanta	Bucuresti Baneasa	104.6
India	Rajdhani Express	Mughal Sarai	Gaya	100.7
Taiwan	Train 1019	Taipei	Kaohsiung	99.4
Pakistan	Shalimar Express	Rohri	Rahim Yarkhan	98.5
Croatia	Train 743	Novska	Slavonski Brod	97.4
Norway	Et 41/43	Otta	Dombås	95.2
Algeria	Rapide AC	El Harrach	Thenia	94.3
Gabon	3 trains	M'boungou	Lastourville	94.3
Bulgaria	4 trains	Pazardzhik	Plovdiv	93.9
Belarus	Polonez	Minsk	Brest	92.5
Cuba	Train 1	Cacocum	Alto Cedro	92.2
Turkey	Train 11002	Eskisehir	Ankara	92.0
Czech Republic	5 EuroCity	Havlickuv Brod	Brno	91.9
Thailand	Trains 907/908	Uttaradit	Phitsanulok	91.4
Luxembourg	9 trains	Luxembourg	Mersch	90.0
Indonesia	2 trains	Jakarta	Jatinegara	90.0
Brazil	2 trains	Acailandia	Imperatriz	89.7
Cameroon	IC 22	Ngoumou	Eseka	88.7
Chile	5 trains	Randagua	San Fernando	88.3
Botswana	Train 4	Serule	Topisi	88.3
New Zealand	Southerner	Timaru	Oamaru	87.4
Argentina	Train 337	Maipú	Mar del Plata	87.3
Malaysia	Sinaran Seletan	Kulai	Kluang	86.8
Latvia	Train 669	Riga	Ventspils	84.5
Zambia	2 Tazara	Chozi	Kasama	82.1
Iraq	Trains 31/35	Al Fallujah	Ar Ramadi	82.0
Mali	Train 15	Diamou	Bafulabé	81.7
Tunisia	3 trains	Jendouba	Ghardimaou	81.6
Mexico	Tren del Pacifico	Puerto Peñasco	Caborca	81.5
Syria	Train 35	Halab	Al Qamishli	81.3
South Africa	Algoa	Sasolburg	Kroonstad	79.1
Lithuania	2 trains	Radviliskis	Vilnius	78.8
Zimbabwe	Limpopo	Chegutu	Harare	78.6
Yugoslavia	5 trains	Lapovo	Jagodina	78.0
Slovenia	Train 1295	Jesenice	Lesce-Bled	78.0
Estonia	Tallinna Exspres	Tapa	Tallinn	72.2
North Korea	2 trains	Kowon	Hamhung	71.7
Bolivia	Train 28	Viacha	Eucaliptus	71.7
Bangladesh	2 trains	Dhaka	Akhaura	71.0
Ukraine	Train 89	Konotop	Kyiv	69.4
Benin	Train 12	Save	Tchaourou	68.0
Kazakstan	Uzbekistan	Kazalinsk	Aral'sk	68.0
Burkina Faso	Train 11	Koudougou	Ougadougou	67.2
Côte d'Ivoire	Train 12	Katiola	Bouake	63.8
Senegal	Mali Express	Diourbel	Thies	62.6
Uzbekistan	Train 57	Samarkand	Toshkent	61.7
Mongolia	Train 4/24	Choir	Saynshand	60.3
Sri Lanka	Yal Devi	Polgehawela Jcn	Kurunegala	60.0
Congo (N)	Train Bleu	Loubomo	Pointe Noire	59.6
Tanzania	Train 2	Mlimba	Ifakara	59.6
Turkmenistan	Turkmenistan	Charjew	Denev	56.1
Azerbaijan	Train 37	Gyanaidzha	Yevlakh	55.1
Mozambique	5.00 ex-Chicomo	Chonguene	Xai Xai	54.5
Vietnam	Trains S1/S2	Nha Trang	Diêu Tri	54.5
Nigeria	2 trains	Oshogbo	Ede	51.0
Namibia	Train 6666	Omaruru	Otjiwarongo	49.8
Myanmar	Train 15	Thazi	Mandalay	48.7
Guinea	Train 601	Sangaredi	Boké	48.6
Madagascar	Train 231	Moramanga	Ambatondrazaka	47.3
Peru	Tren Pullman	Juliaca	Puno	47.0
Armenia	Train 265	Leninakan	Yerevan	46.9
DR Congo (S)	7.30 ex-Kinshasa	Songololo	Matadi	46.6
Mauritania	Train V3	Nouadhibou	Tmimichatt	45.6
Uruguay	Train 1503	Canelones	25 de Agosto	45.0
Kenya	Train AO2	Voi	Mombasa	44.7
Moldova	Train 236	Tiraspol	Kishinev	44.2
Ecuador	Train 5	Duran Alfaro	Milagro	40.8
Lebanon*	Suburban	Beirut	Jbeil	40.0
Ghana	Train 2	Kumasi	Takoradi	38.5
Angola	Train 14111	Namibe	Munhino	38.1
Albania	9.20 ex-Durrës	Lushnjë	Fier	37.6
Philippines	Train 517	Calamba	San Pablo	34.1
Ethiopia	Train 14	Nazareth	Aouache	34.1
Georgia	Train 207	Gardabani	Tbilisi	33.9
Jordan	Train 14	Mafraq	Amman	32.5
Sudan	1 train	Bur Sudan	Khartoum Bahri	31.2
Malawi	Train 508J	Liwonde	Nkaya	30.6
El Salvador	8 trains	Sonsonate	Armenia	28.8
Togo	Trains 51/53	Lome	Notse	28.1
Djibouti	Trains 15/16	Alisabiet	Djibouti	25.3
Colombia	Train 103	Medellin	Cisneros	24.3
Cambodia	Train 12	Kompong Sam	Phnom Penh	24.0
Paraguay	2 trains	Asunción	Ypacarai	20.3
Eritrea	12 trains	Mits'Iwa	Damas	18.0
Bosnia	insufficient timetable data
Kyrgystan	insufficient timetable data
Nepal	insufficient timetable data
Tajikistan	insufficient timetable data
Venezuela	insufficient timetable data
Isle of Man	insufficient timetable data

*) According to Dr. Timothy J. B. Simmons (London) there is no more railway service in Lebanon, despite the mention in the Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable:

There are no trains in Lebanon. The railways were destroyed during the civil war. I went there in April 1996, the line from Beirut to Jbeil is disused, but the track formation has been destroyed for a considerable distance in the suburbs of Beirut, and covered over by new road construction. Thus it is unlikely ever to be restored. I reported this to Thomas Cook Overseas Timetable, but they ignored my letter. They continue to publish details of trains that do not exist.