High-speed rail in Europe
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 Freight Vehicle
HSFV1 was intended for fundamental empirical research into wheel-rail interaction and suspension dynamics to be better understood, following from work on wheel tread profiles. It was regularly run at speeds of up to 140 mph (225 km/h) on the Vehicles Laboratory's roller rig. It also performed at 90 mph whilst under test on the main line. Its suspension had two vertical coil springs and two vertical and one lateral hydraulic damper at each corner of the vehicle. This was at a time when few freight trains travelled at more than forty mph and most passenger trains averaged about seventy mph. It supported theories of vehicle design which led to most later designs of train.