Now this, my friends, is a bit amazing. The French are famous for a few things, but their trains in particular tend to be known around Europe for their speed and reliability. The French TGV trains have been operating since 1981 and regularly reach speeds of almost 200mph.
Something that was perhaps brushed over by the press here in the UK is the breaking of the world speed record for a train on wheels (as apposed to a maglev one). This souped-up train managed to reach 574.8 km/h, which is an amazing 357.18 mph! Sweet momma! Now that’s fast!
At this point I could point you towards their record website where you can get details of the turbo-charged train with several modifications and the reasons behind the record attempt, however I think it’s probably better just to watch this video. It’s taken from a French TV channel covering the event. Just check it out – especially about two thirds of the way through where it goes under the bridge. Blimey!
Click here if you can’t see the video above. Oh, and interestingly, a lot of the work for this project was done by a local company – Alstom! They built the coaches and helped to do some other bits.. they have a huge factory in Stafford! :)