Check out italotreno.it They started service in Italy, in April of 2012. Some Italian billionaire purchased a fleet of French built high speed trains, and runs them over Italian State tracks.

We traveled from Rome to Naples non-stop - in one hour flat. The speedometer on display, showed us hitting speeds of 290 km/hr, or over 180 miles per hour. And the tickets, purchased and printed on line - in advance - only cost 20 euros each.

On the return trip, we took the regular Italian Rail FS train. It travelled at what seemed to be a good pace, made 4 stops, and took 2 and one-half hours. It also cost more.