The global history of high speed rail, from the railways' "wisest, most detailed historian" (The Observer)

Sleek, comfortable, accessible, and sustainable, high-speed rail is the future.

Since Japan’s Bullet Train first sped down the track in the sixties, it has become a global icon, as famous for its punctuality as for its speed.

The French TGV, or Train à Grande Vitesse, established a template that was soon followed across Europe, in Italy, Germany and Spain

But with a remarkable 30,000 miles of track built in fewer than twenty years China has become the world leader.

Now with lines built or planned in over twenty countries, high speed rail has changed the world and, faced with the environmental cost of cars and air travel, might help save it.

Two countries, both pioneers of rail travel, have been conspicuously left behind, though. The UK, which before the Second World War built record-breaking high-speed trains, has just sixty-eight miles of high-speed line and the unfolding embarrassment of HS2, while the United States has no genuine high-speed line at all. How can this be?

In Fast Track, Christian Wolmar, our leading railway writer, tells the story of the irresistible rise of high-speed rail around the world for the first time. From the magnificence of Britain’s steam-engined Mallard to a 250 mile per hour future, this is a story of big personalities, bold decisions, cutting edge technology, and soaring ambition.

All aboard!

'The greatest expert on British trains' GUARDIAN
'The high priest of railway studies' LITERARY REVIEW
'Our most eminent transport journalist' SPECTATOR
'If you love the hum of the wheels and of history, then Christian Wolmar is your man' OBSERVER

© Christian Wolmar 2026 (P) Penguin Audio 2026