Editing High-speed rail (section)

==Freight high-speed rail==
All high-speed trains have been designed to carry passengers only. There are very few high-speed freight services in the world; they all use trains that were originally designed to carry passengers.

During the planning of the [[Tokaido Shinkansen]], the [[Japanese National Railways]] were planning for freight services along the route.{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} This plan was discarded before the line opened, but since 2019 light freight has been carried on some Shinkansen services.<ref>{{cite news |title=Japanese high speed rail freight services expand |url=https://www.railwaygazette.com/high-speed/japanese-high-speed-rail-freight-services-expand/66634.article |access-date=5 June 2024 |work=Railway Gazette International |publisher=DVV Media International |date=5 June 2024}}</ref>

The French [[SNCF TGV La Poste|TGV La Poste]] was for a long time the sole very high-speed train service, transporting mail in France for [[La Poste (France)|La Poste]] at a maximum top speed of {{convert|270|km/h|sp=us}}, between 1984 and 2015. The trainsets were either specifically adapted and built, either converted, passenger [[SNCF TGV Sud-Est|TGV Sud-Est]] trainsets.

In Italy, Mercitalia Fast is a high-speed freight service launched in October 2018 by [[Mercitalia]]. It uses converted passenger [[FS Class ETR 500|ETR 500]] trainsets to carry goods at average speeds of {{cvt|180|km/h}}, at first between Caserta and Bologna, with plans to extend the network throughout Italy.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.fsitaliane.it/content/fsitaliane/en/Media/press-releases-and-news/2018/4/6/mercitalia-fast--from-october--goods-will-travel-at-high-speed.html|title=Mercitalia Fast: from October, goods will travel at high speed|website=www.fsitaliane.it |access-date=17 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181117233926/https://www.fsitaliane.it/content/fsitaliane/en/Media/press-releases-and-news/2018/4/6/mercitalia-fast--from-october--goods-will-travel-at-high-speed.html|archive-date=17 November 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In some countries, high-speed rail is integrated with [[courier]] services to provide fast door-to-door intercity deliveries. For example, China Railways has partnered with [[SF Express]] for high-speed cargo deliveries<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.caixinglobal.com/2018-08-29/china-railway-corp-sf-express-team-up-on-delivery-venture-101320197.html |title=China Railway Corp., SF Express Team Up on Delivery Venture|author=Mo Yelin|date=29 August 2018|access-date=22 September 2020|website=Caixin Global}}</ref> and {{lang|de|[[Deutsche Bahn]]|italic=no}} offers express deliveries within Germany as well as to some major cities outside the country on the ICE network.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.time-matters.com/transport-solutions/ickurier/|title=ic:kurier: Rail courier service by train|access-date=22 September 2020|website=time:matters}}</ref> Rather than using dedicated freight trains, these use luggage racks and other unused space in passenger trains.

Non-high-speed freight trains running on high-speed lines is much more common; for example, [[High Speed 1]] sees weekly freight services.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.railpro.co.uk/magazine/?idArticles=1184 |title=Interview: Alain Thauvette |date=December 2011 |first=Katie |last=Silvester |magazine=Rail Professional |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420024023/http://www.railpro.co.uk/magazine/?idArticles=1184 |archive-date=20 April 2012 |publisher=CPL |publication-place=Cambridge}}</ref> However, high speed lines tend to be steeper than regular (non-mountain) railways, which poses a problem for most freight trains as they have a lower [[power to weight ratio]] and thus more difficulty climbing steep slopes. For example, the [[Cologne–Frankfurt high-speed rail line|Frankfurt Cologne high speed line]] has inclines up to 40‰.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Bös |first=Nadine |date=2012-07-25 |title=10 Jahre ICE-Strecke Köln-Frankfurt: Was 300 Stundenkilometer kosten |language=de |work=FAZ.NET |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/wirtschaft/10-jahre-ice-strecke-koeln-frankfurt-was-300-stundenkilometer-kosten-11831291.html |access-date=2023-08-17 |issn=0174-4909}}</ref> If a high-speed line through even somewhat hilly terrain is to be usable for freight, expensive engineered structures will need to be built, as is the case with the [[Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway|Hannover Würzburg high-speed line]] which contains the longest and the second longest mainline rail tunnel in Germany<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-02-02 |title=Deutschlands längster Eisenbahntunnel |url=https://www.fr.de/rhein-main/deutschlands-laengster-eisenbahntunnel-11676448.html |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=www.fr.de |language=de}}</ref> and altogether runs on tunnels or bridges for roughly half of its length.