In China, the Fuxing Hao trains typically reach a maximum speed of 217 mph.

On Thursday, it made its latest bid: Amtrak launched a new line of faster trains to run in the Northeast Corridor, connecting cities like Boston, New York, and Washington, DC.

The NextGen Acela trains can reach a top speed of 160 mph, outspeeding the previous Acela fleet by 10 mph.

The Acela was already the fastest train in the US. It's followed by the Florida Brightline, which runs between Orlando and Miami at a top speed of 125 mph.

However, these speeds are far behind other passenger trains around the world.

While promising developments in California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Texas are currently under construction, high-speed passenger trains -- often characterized as systems that run above 186 mph -- do not yet exist in the US, The New York Times reported.

Running on "ancient tracks," as reported by The New York Times, even the fastest Amtrak trains still deal with outdated transit design that prevents higher speeds.

Here are the 10 fastest trains in the world, from countries including France and China. This ranking is based on the speed at which the trains typically run rather than their top recorded speed, which often counts test runs.

Serviced route: Multiple routes, including London-Paris and London-Brussels

Serviced route: Multiple routes, connecting cities like Turin, Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome, and Salerno

Serviced route: Shanghai Pudong International Airport to Longyang Road Station in Pudong, Shanghai (18.6 miles)

Serviced route: Multiple routes, including Paris-Lyon, Paris-Marseille, and Paris-Nice

Serviced route: Multiple routes including Beijing-Shanghai, Beijing-Tianjin, and Beijing-Hong Kong