French train clocks 575km/h

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 04 April 2007 14:30

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A French TGV has reached a speed of 575km/h (357mph) establishing a new world speed record for trains running on rails.

The train was modified for the attempt with larger wheels, and the electricity supply voltage was increased to deliver additional power. The total power output of the train's multiple motors was nearly 20MW.

The track had been strengthened to withstand the load, but the route selected already had extremely wide radius curves.

The attempt was backed by train builder Alstom, French national railway SNCF, and track operator RFF. The aim was to encourage other countries planning very high speed rail systems to purchase French technology.

The TGV beat the previous record by 60km/h (set in France during 1990) and came very close to the absolute train speed record of 581km/h, set by a Japanese magnetically-levitated train.

Alstom officials suggest the top speed of regular TGV journeys could rise from the current 200km/h to around 350km/h sometime in the next several years.