In this paper, a specific procedure is adopted for making a distinction between conventional-speed rail, high-speed rail, and very high-speed rail. The criteria adopted correspond to the needs of the actors that manage the 3 constituents of a railway system and namely the infrastructure managers (track) and the operators (rolling stock, railway services). Based on this distinction, research was focused on: a) identifying all countries, which possess at least one track of very high-speed b) making a record, for all the identified countries, of the total length of tracks that are characterized as very highspeed tracks c) analyzing the evolution of the construction of very highspeed tracks over the years d) making a record of very high-speed trains that were set in circulation over the last 5 years Making a record per country, of the longest direct route, which, based on the adopted definition, provides services of very high-speed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]