French Train Breaks Rail Speed Record Vincent Kessler/Reuters[/align] The black and chrome train with three double-decker cars bettered the previous record set in 1990. [/align] function getSharePasskey() { return 'ex=1333339200&en=1be57c9fd7f08af0&ei=5124';} function getShareURL() { return encodeURIComponent('http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/04/business/worldbusiness/04train.html'); } function getShareHeadline() { return encodeURIComponent('French Train Breaks Rail Speed Record'); } function getShareDescription() { return encodeURIComponent('The train, a research prototype, broke the world speed record on rail today, reaching 357 miles per hour.'); } function getShareKeywords() { return encodeURIComponent('Railroads,France,SNCF'); } function getShareSection() { return encodeURIComponent('business'); } function getShareSectionDisplay() { return encodeURIComponent('Business / World Business'); } function getShareSubSection() { return encodeURIComponent('worldbusiness'); } function getShareByline() { return encodeURIComponent('By ARIANE BERNARD'); } function getSharePubdate() { return encodeURIComponent('April 4, 2007'); } [/align] [/align] [/align]Published: April 4, 2007[/align] BEZANNES, France, April 3 — A French high-speed train broke the world speed record on rail on Tuesday, reaching 357 miles an hour (574.8 kilometers) in a much publicized test in eastern France, exceeding expectations that it would hit 150 meters a second, or 540 kilometers an hour. The train, code-named V150, is a research prototype meant to demonstrate the superiority both of the TGV high-speed train and of its probable successor, the AGV, which is also manufactured by the French engineering group Alstom. The performance on Tuesday came close to but did not break the world speed record for any train, set by an electromagnetic train in 2003.The French railroad company SNCF and Alstom publicized the event as a test of “French excellence,” building on national pride for the 25-year-old bullet train. The train reached its maximum speed in about 16 minutes at a site about 125 miles from Paris on a specially chosen sector of tracks of the new Eastern Europe TGV line, which will begin service between Paris and Strasbourg in June. The V150 train, with a reduced number of train cars and larger wheels, incorporates technological elements from the AGV. SNCF and Alstom insist that the demonstration does not fulfill any immediate commercial purposes, but others say the speed could serve as a selling point in Asia and other markets.“This world speed record is intended for research, to improve security and performance,” said Anne-Marie Idrac, the head of SNCF upon leaving the train. “And today the train that runs the fastest is the Eastern TGV. We don’t see the market today for such high speed.” Alstom, the world high-speed train leader, with 21 percent of the market, is hoping it might parlay the record into sales, as its competitors — Siemens of Germany and Hitachi of Japan — have cut into Alstom’s lead in the competition for the market. But Alstom has 70 percent of the market for trains that reach 270 kilometers (168 miles) an hour or more, Patrick Kron, Alstom’s chief executive, said in an interview. “There are big developments to come in Europe, but also Latin America where we just announced we are competing for an order in Argentina,” Mr. Kron said. High-speed trains are a potentially lucrative market in developing countries — China and India are the biggest markets, with China spending about 15 billion euros a year on its rail network, while India is looking at developing a high-speed train system. Crowds gathered on bridges overlooking the rail t

 

That is frickin' fast. I think my H3 could still take it! [sm=gears.gif]

 

Man...They should have one of those in Canada. Just go along the Trans-Canada-Hwy. That would be SWEET!!!

 

A French train.......the conductor probably saw a war breaking out behind him and was just trying to get away from it as fast as possible

 

The train tracks run right in front of my office, so we cross the tracks regularily to get to the bank/bakery/other side of town. We'd be splattered for sure with this thing. We would never see it coming!

 

They had one on the news last night i do not know if it was this one they said the fastest one has magnetic tracks

 

Sorry JM, but THAT RIGHT THERE, IS FUNNAY!!!

 

Snicker[sm=smiley36.gif]

 

Mike you're wrong.
The driver was invited for dinner by an american family who had his pool just re built..... and was trying is best to get away from the mess

 

No, it wasn't, actually this one runs on standards (?) tracks.
the electro magnetic one is called MAGLEV and is much faster, I think close to 600 km/h. I believe is built in Japan by MITSUBITSHI.