High-speed rail in Switzerland
, Switzerland has no high-speed trains of its own yet. French TGV (TGV Lyria) and German ICE lines extend into Switzerland, but given the dense rail traffic, short distances between Swiss cities (because of the country's small size) and the often difficult terrain, they do not attain speeds higher than 200 km/h (ICE3) or 160 km/h (TGV, ICE1, ICE2). The fastest Swiss trains are the ICN tilting trains, operated by the Swiss Federal Railways since May 2000. They can reach higher speeds than conventional trains on the curve-intensive Swiss network, however the top speed of 200 km/h can only be reached on high-speed lines. The former Cisalpino consortium owned by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia used Pendolino tilting trains on two of its international lines. These trains are now operated by the Swiss Federal Railways and Trenitalia.
Passenger rail terminology
A number of both technological and practical variables begin to influence trains in the vicinity of 500–600 km/h. Technologically, the limitations are by no means beyond reach, however conventional trains begin to encounter several physical obstacles, most notably track damage and pantograph limitations. It is important to note that the current world record for rail vehicles is held by the TGV V150 set on 15 April 2007 at , and conventional trains may indeed eventually reach into ultra high-speeds. However, this test has shown that speeds over 500 km/h are unrealistic for regular usage; it wears down the material too much. Based on current and foreseeable technology, these speeds will more than likely be reached predominantly by maglev trains. The two most prominent maglev trains are the Transrapid with a maximum speed of and the Japanese MLX01, which holds the world land speed record for rail vehicles at .