alt Hacker NewsThe high speed filter is a bit misleading. Amsterdam to Berlin is marked as high speed. But it takes 6 hours and 41 minutes to cover the ~580km distance. It might technically qualify as high speed but it doesn’t feel like it.
Washington DC to NYC is comparable.
At night I can legally drive to Amsterdam faster by car. 670km on the Autobahn in 6 hours can be done. Not as comfortable of course, but just to prove the point.
I took the Amsterdam to Berlin route a few days ago with almost two hour delays because of some diversions. There are very few proper high speed tracks in Germany. Mostly the trains are routed over older tracks that aren't suitable for higher speeds.
Basically the only stretch where the train to Amsterdam might hit anywhere close to its maximum speed is the 20% of the journey between Berlin and Wolfsburg. And even there it slows down frequently. But you might see it go 250 km/hour for a few minutes.
I took a proper highspeed train from Madrid to Valencia a few years ago. It goes 300km/hour. It leaves Madrid, accelerates. And then a bit over 1.5 hours later you arrive in Valencia. It's about 400km. The train has one stop about mid way. Otherwise, it stays at its maximum speed the whole journey. At that speed, Amsterdam-Berlin should be doable in a bit over 2 hours.