France breaks world speed record for rail trains

[Nick F]

Wow & Wow.

If only we had trains like this in the UK

BOARD TRAIN V150, France - A French train with a 25,000-horsepower engine and special wheels broke the world speed record Tuesday for conventional rail trains, reaching 357.2 mph as it zipped through the countryside to the applause of spectators.

Roaring like a jet plane, with sparks flying overhead and kicking up a long trail of dust, the black-and-chrome V150 with three double-decker cars surpassed the record of 320.2 mph set in 1990 by another French train.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11668535/ - Video on this page.

[steve threlfall]

That is incredible

25,000 horse power. I wonder what the power to weight ratio is

They should try crashing this into a car on top gear

[Clunk]

Well they need fast getaway vehicles, the big chickens.

[Nick]

Great, you can get somewhere in France even faster... to find all the porters/taxi drivers/air traffic controllers are on strike at the other end...

[TiG]

Your fellow Mod beat you to it

http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=104258

Hehe

TiG

[BlackDwarf]

Shows what a state our rail system is in when the top speed of most of our trains is about 1/3 of that!

[mosherben]

fantastic, now they can derail off the tracks and damage anything nearby

[Flibb]

Shows what a state our rail system is in when the top speed of most of our trains is about 1/3 of that!

The operational speed is around 200 mph, the same as the Kent high speed line.

[Rave]

I watched the video on the BBC site, absolutely awesome.