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.
High-speed rail in Europe
The United Kingdom's first dedicated high-speed line, High Speed 1 between London and the Channel Tunnel, opened 14 November 2007. A second line, dubbed High Speed 2, is now planned by the government, to be constructed initially between London and Birmingham with later extensions to Manchester and Leeds. High Speed 2 was approved by the government in January 2012. Furthermore, future upgrades to the Great Western and East Coast main lines (in combination with the Intercity Express Programme) could increase the lines' operating speed to , which would by definition make them high-speed railways. Such an increase would require the installation of in-cab signalling. Like Finnish and Russian counterparts, the strongest reasons for new high-speed lines are to relieve congestion on the existing network and create extra capacity.