American railroad company Amtrak has launched a fleet of new trains along the US east coast that will run 10 miles per hour faster than current models and are the "first high-speed trains built in America", according to their manufacturer.

Five out of 28 new Acela NextGen trains were rolled out today on a route between Boston, New York City and Washington DC, as part of a wider "modernization" effort by Amtrak, which includes new trains for a Pacific Northwest route set to debut in 2026.

The Acela NextGen trains will hit a top speed of 160 miles per hour (mph), according to Amtrak, which is about 10 mph faster than the current fastest Acela trains in the US that reach 150 mph.

While this top speed is about 126 mph slower than the world's fastest train in China, the Shanghai Maglev, it qualifies the NextGen as a high-speed rail by some definitions, as it varies by state and country.

The Paris-based organisation International Union of Railways defines the term as trains reaching 155 mph on new, purpose-built lines, or 125 mph on upgraded existing lines, the latter of which applies to Acela's NextGen.

The launch was announced via a press conference by Amtrak, United States Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy and manufacturer Alstom on Wednesday.

"Acela is synonymous with American high-speed trains, and today marks a new era of next-generation service," said Amtrak President Roger Harris. "The future of high-speed rail starts now."

Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge called the new fleet "the first high-speed trains built in America" and emphasised the trains' manufacturing in Hornell, New York as "in America, for America".

Other high-speed rail projects are in development or under construction in the US, such as California's High Speed Rail, which Foster & Partners is creating staions for, and a completely new line from Dallas to Houston called Texas Central.

Funded by a combination of federal, state and private sources, these high-speed projects often face setbacks, such as the Trump Administration pulling funding for the California and Texas projects this year.

Public support also varies by project. A recent poll showed 62 per cent of Californians in favor of a statewide high-speed rail, while lawmakers in Texas generally lean anti-rail.

Following the launch of NextGen, Amtrak released a more detailed timeline for the long-awaited renovation of New York Penn Station.

While design proposals will begin this fall, HOK and PAU previously submitted a proposal and Grand Penn Community Alliance submitted a design that includes completely relocating Madison Square Garden.

The photography is courtesy of Amtrak