It has been a mixed month for the fortunes of fast railways.
On the one hand, Indonesia has just launched “Whoosh”, South-East Asia’s first bullet train. On the other, the United Kingdom has just scrapped a key section of its HS2 project, citing prohibitive projected costs of £106 billion ($129.46 billion).
But if high-speed rail has hit the buffers in Britain, for the rest of the world it’s full speed ahead.
More than a dozen new services on five continents are in the pipeline. These include Etihad Rail’s 1,200km network that will eventually whisk passengers at 200kph from the Saudi Arabian border across all seven emirates and into Oman.
Investment in high-speed is not an extravagance, but an investment in changing the mobility system and the system of social behaviour
Krzysztof Maminski,
International Union of Railways
The “Whoosh” trains – an acronym in Indonesian for “timesaving, optimal operation, reliable system” – have slashed the journey time between the capital Jakarta and Bandung in West Java from three hours to 40 minutes.
The Chinese-built trains, part of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative, travel at up to 350kph, with the whole project estimated to have cost about $10 billion. That translates to about $50 million per kilometre of track.
In contrast, Britain’s HS2, which would have run from London to Manchester via Birmingham was expected to cost £306 million for each of the 345 miles (555km) of track – with a completion date some time in the 2030s.
High-speed future
Embarrassing as this is for the country that gave the world the first passenger trains as far back as 1825, nearly 200 years later high-speed rail is seen as the future almost everywhere else.
The data website Statista estimates the Asia Pacific region, which includes Australia, has nearly 7,000km of high-speed rail in the pipeline.
For Europe, the figure is nearly 6,000 and in the Middle East nearly 5,000km. Africa is building more than 2,000km and North America about 1,500. Only South America is missing out.
This year’s International Union of Railways was held in Morocco, where its chairman, Krzysztof Maminski, said: “The number of countries making use of high-speed railways is only increasing, as additional countries are in the process of developing projects. Investment in high-speed is not an extravagance, but an investment in changing the mobility system and the system of social behaviour.”
The host country, Morocco, is one of those investing in high-speed rail, defined by the IUC as “infrastructure for new railway lines designed for speeds of 250kph and above, or upgraded existing lines for speeds of up to 200kph or even 220kph.”
HS2 rail project – in pictures
Al Boraq, named after the mystical creature that transported the Prophet Mohammed from Makkah to Jerusalem in a single night, connects the cities of Casablanca and Tangier. Completed in 2018, it was Africa’s first high-speed train, with future plans for a Maghreb link from Rabat to Fez.
In Europe, France is building a new line from Lyon to Turin in Italy, expected to be complete in 2030. The Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are planning an 870km connection with the rest of Europe, a project both political and economic given they were once client states of the Soviet Union.
For length though, nothing competes with two projects in North America. The California High Speed Rail line should connect Los Angeles and San Francisco, a distance of 1,300km, in less than three hours.
Cost overruns and environmental concerns have often threatened to derail the project, with only the central section currently under construction and unlikely to be carrying passengers before 2030.
Canada’s High Frequency Rail project will link Toronto with Quebec City. Although still in the planning stage, procurement for building has begun, with the hope that trains will run by 2030.
Australia is also late to the game, despite an experiment with tilting trains that reached a top speed of 210kph in the 1990s. Earlier this year, the country created a new High Speed Rail Authority, charged with building a network on the east coast.
The new line will connect Sydney with Newcastle, a distance of only 162km. By the time it reaches Melbourne, though, it will be the 2050s.
Longest and fastest
One country where high-speed rail is very much a thing of the present is Turkey, which in 2003 began building and now connects major cities, including Istanbul and the capital Ankara, via a flagship service that completes the 562km at speeds of up to 250kph.
By next year Turkey expects to have about 10,000km of high-speed railway, which it is building with help from a Chinese consortium.
It brings the number of countries with high-speed trains to 29, although some run only on an upgraded track, a much cheaper if slower option than purpose-built lines.
Although the world’s first high-speed service was Japan’s legendary Shinkansen, or bullet train, in the 1960s, it is China that now leads the way.
The world’s longest network has reached 42,000km, two thirds of the global total. It includes the world’s longest high-speed line, 2,298km from Beijing to Guangzhou on the border with Hong Kong, which takes just nine hours. China also has the world’s only high-speed sleeper trains.
The China Railways Harmony trains are also recorded as the world’s fastest, reaching 486 kph in testing, although the Shanghai Maglev, a levitating train that connects to the airport, has recorded a top speed of 501kph.
Three years ago, a Chinese company was reported to have put in a bid to build the UK’s HS2, saying they could complete it in five years and at half the expected price.
The offer came to nothing. Instead, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has decided to use £8 billion ($9.76 billion) of the money saved from scrapping the link to Manchester to fill in potholes on Britain’s crumbling roads.
By coincidence, this is also almost exactly the price of Indonesia’s new high-speed rail service.
Netherlands v UAE, Twenty20 International series
Saturday, August 3 - First T20i, Amstelveen
Monday, August 5 – Second T20i, Amstelveen
Tuesday, August 6 – Third T20i, Voorburg
Thursday, August 8 – Fourth T20i, Vooryburg
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km
Price: Dh133,900
On sale: now
Quick pearls of wisdom
Focus on gratitude: And do so deeply, he says. “Think of one to three things a day that you’re grateful for. It needs to be specific, too, don’t just say ‘air.’ Really think about it. If you’re grateful for, say, what your parents have done for you, that will motivate you to do more for the world.”
Know how to fight: Shetty married his wife, Radhi, three years ago (he met her in a meditation class before he went off and became a monk). He says they’ve had to learn to respect each other’s “fighting styles” – he’s a talk it-out-immediately person, while she needs space to think. “When you’re having an argument, remember, it’s not you against each other. It’s both of you against the problem. When you win, they lose. If you’re on a team you have to win together.”
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Tottenham 0-1 Ajax, Tuesday
Second leg
Ajax v Tottenham, Wednesday, May 8, 11pm
Game is on BeIN Sports
The National Archives, Abu Dhabi
Founded over 50 years ago, the National Archives collects valuable historical material relating to the UAE, and is the oldest and richest archive relating to the Arabian Gulf.
Much of the material can be viewed on line at the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive - https://www.agda.ae/en
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
Available: Now
RIDE%20ON
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Essentials
The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.
RedCrow Intelligence Company Profile
Started: 2016
Founders: Hussein Nasser Eddin, Laila Akel, Tayeb Akel
Based: Ramallah, Palestine
Sector: Technology, Security
# of staff: 13
Investment: $745,000
Investors: Palestine’s Ibtikar Fund, Abu Dhabi’s Gothams and angel investors
PLAY-OFF%20DRAW
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
STAGE 4 RESULTS
1 Sam Bennett (IRL) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 4:51:51
2 David Dekker (NED) Team Jumbo-Visma
3 Caleb Ewan (AUS) Lotto Soudal
4 Elia Viviani (ITA) Cofidis
5 Matteo Moschetti (ITA) Trek-Segafredo
General Classification
1 Tadej Pogacar (SLO) UAE Team Emirates - 12:50:21
2 Adam Yates (GBR) Teamn Ineos Grenadiers - 0:00:43
3 Joao Almeida (POR) Deceuninck-QuickStep - 0:01:03
4 Chris Harper (AUS) Jumbo-Visma - 0:01:43
5 Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-Nippo - 0:01:45
MEDIEVIL%20(1998)
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Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
Best Academy: Ajax and Benfica
Best Agent: Jorge Mendes
Best Club : Liverpool
Best Coach: Jurgen Klopp (Liverpool)
Best Goalkeeper: Alisson Becker
Best Men’s Player: Cristiano Ronaldo
Best Partnership of the Year Award by SportBusiness: Manchester City and SAP
Best Referee: Stephanie Frappart
Best Revelation Player: Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid and Portugal)
Best Sporting Director: Andrea Berta (Atletico Madrid)
Best Women's Player: Lucy Bronze
Best Young Arab Player: Achraf Hakimi
Kooora – Best Arab Club: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
Kooora – Best Arab Player: Abderrazak Hamdallah (Al-Nassr FC, Saudi Arabia)
Player Career Award: Miralem Pjanic and Ryan Giggs
ENGLAND%20SQUAD
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Nepotism is the name of the game
Salman Khan’s father, Salim Khan, is one of Bollywood’s most legendary screenwriters. Through his partnership with co-writer Javed Akhtar, Salim is credited with having paved the path for the Indian film industry’s blockbuster format in the 1970s. Something his son now rules the roost of. More importantly, the Salim-Javed duo also created the persona of the “angry young man” for Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan in the 1970s, reflecting the angst of the average Indian. In choosing to be the ordinary man’s “hero” as opposed to a thespian in new Bollywood, Salman Khan remains tightly linked to his father’s oeuvre. Thanks dad.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Springtime in a Broken Mirror,
Mario Benedetti, Penguin Modern Classics
if you go
The flights
Flydubai offers three daily direct flights to Sarajevo and, from June, a daily flight from Thessaloniki from Dubai. A return flight costs from Dhs1,905 including taxes.
The trip
The Travel Scientists are the organisers of the Balkan Ride and several other rallies around the world. The 2018 running of this particular adventure will take place from August 3-11, once again starting in Sarajevo and ending a week later in Thessaloniki. If you’re driving your own vehicle, then entry start from €880 (Dhs 3,900) per person including all accommodation along the route. Contact the Travel Scientists if you wish to hire one of their vehicles.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
