You are right that 8 hours for 1000 km is rubbish for a train. Modern trains can do that in 3 hours, on conventional rail (no maglev needed). The trains can d

You are right that 8 hours for 1000 km is rubbish for a train. Modern trains can do that in 3 hours, on conventional rail (no maglev needed). The trains can do that already for 40 years (the ICE could to 400 km/h in 1988): https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercity_Express https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercity_Express The problem is that in contrast to China, Japan, France, and Italy, Germany does not build straight tracks that allow that speed. If you put a Chinese straight train track between Berlin and Paris, the travel time would be 3 hours, without sacrificing comfort.