Real high speed in Germany does not make sense, too many stops due to political reasons ("Wolfsburg" comes to mind and "Kassel"). That's the reason new ICE trai

Real high speed in Germany does not make sense, too many stops due to political reasons ("Wolfsburg" comes to mind and "Kassel"). That's the reason new ICE trains are slower than their predecessors. Other countries have far fewer stops on high speed routes and can therefor have faster trains (e.g. Japan and France).