Various countries took various paths to HSR which is internationally defined above 200 km/h. Along the path of HSR technologies' development speeds have gotten further subdivided into "above 250 ", "above 350", and relateively recently "above 450" km/h.

It is a common opinion that speeds within a range from 200 to 250 km/h are also achievable by upper end conventional trains, and researchers are working on expanding this barrier. However more speed, i.e. over 250 km/h, requires a technology shift and a specially designed track.

Several design philosophies to accommodate speeds above 200 km/h exist that have a lot in common but vary in significant ways. The Japanese Shinkansen, French TGV, German ICE, Italian ETR, Spanish Talgo, Korean KTX, Swedish X 2000, and much less known US GM locomotives for speeds up to 250 km/h accomplish similar goals in different ways.

All these countries have made impressive progress in terms of modernizing their passenger rail infrastructure . High speed rail travel between cities 100 to 500 Km apart is now the norm in much of Europe, and most capital cities have efficient rail transport to and from major airports.

High-Speed Rail situation in Ukraine

Ukraine is well behind its European neighbors in terms of both the average speed of its trains and the number of kilometers of railway track that can support high speed rail. This fact highlights the need for both a comprehensive long-term national rail development strategy , and the successful near-term completion of relatively small projects that will serve to demonstrate the appeal and profitability of modern rail transport.

Besides developing HSR infrastructure and taking into consideration country's intellectual , scientific and technological heritage, it would be strategically wise, in parallel , to take a course on manufacturing national rolling stock models for both internal and global markets.