World’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster is now in Spain with 112mph top speeds
The world’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster is now in Spain – and has a whopping top speed of 112mph.
The Red Force rollercoaster at the Ferrari Land amusement park near Barcelona used to be number four on the list but has quietly risen through the ranks to secure the top spot.
The ruby-red ride is shaped like a top hat and stands at 112 metres tall.
Each train, carrying 12 people in six rows of two, immediately accelerates from 0 to 112mph after leaving the station.
It then begins its ascent to the top of the steel structure, before dropping back down and twisting 90 degrees.
The brakes are then slammed on as the train hits a flat section, before ascending a smaller hill and finally pulling it at the station.
Red Force can accommodate as many as 1,200 passengers per hour.
Manufactured by Intamin, which is also responsible for the world-famous Stealth ride at Thorpe Park, the rollercoaster is powered by linear synchronous motors – a more cost effective, quieter means of acceleration than hydraulics.
Before Red Force was built in 2017, two hydraulically-powered Intamin rides in the US, Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster, had the limelight – with Kingda Ka overtaking Dragster as the tallest and fastest in the world in 2005.
However, a series of problems and repairs has led to both rollercoasters being dethroned from the top spot.
While Kingda Ka is currently still in the top five, the Six Flags Adventure theme park in New Jersey has confirmed that it will close for good after being “surpassed by modern advancements”.
The park said a “multi-world-record-breaking launch roller coaster” will be built in its place.
Also in the top five is Formula Rossa in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates – which was designed to emulate the Formula 1 experience.
And Superman: Escape from Krypton in California, US, makes the list too, which first opened in 1997.
This iconic ride can go from 0 to 10 mph in 7 seconds – but it mysteriously closed in 2024 amid plans for an unspecified “refurbishment”.
Just outside the top five is Ring Racer at Nürburgring in Germany – the fastest ride not made by Intamin.
The S&S Sansei rollercoaster accelerates from 0 to 78mph in just 1.8 seconds.
The Ferrari Land park forms part of a larger leisure complex called PortAventura World.
This also contains the Shambhala rollercoaster, which used to be the tallest rollercoaster in Europe before it was overtaken by Red Force.
The fastest rollercoasters in the world
- Red Force, Spain
- Formula Rossa, UAE
- Kingda Ka, US
- Top Thrill 2, US
- Superman: Escape from Krypton, US