RFF, Alstom and SNCF achieve their target. 574,8 km/h : New World Rail Speed Record Set at 13H13 On 3 April 2007

  
    
  
  
    
      Regulatory News:
    
    
      The V150 trainset reached 574,8 km/h at kilometre point 191 on the new 
      East European LGVTM high-speed line, in France, 
      at 13h13, exceeding by 59,5 km/h the previous world rail speed record, 
      set in 1990.
    
    
      Technical performance that bears witness to a collective achievement
    
    
      Hubert du Mesnil, President of Réseau Ferré de France, Philippe Mellier, 
      President of Alstom Transport (Paris:ALS) and Anne-Marie Idrac, SNCF 
      Chief Executive Officer, representatives of the three partners in the 
      French Excellence in Very High-Speed Transport programme, celebrate the 
      new world record achieved thanks to the commitment of their staff.
    
    
      “The speed record that has been set 
      today evidences French excellence and expertise in the domain of very 
      high speed, which enables the quality of the railway system to be 
      improved to the benefit of passenger comfort and safety. I would like to 
      pay homage to all those who have made this achievement possible and, in 
      particular, those who have worked in our companies and who, under the 
      guidance of RFF, have produced the East European LGV™, 
      a masterpiece in terms of infrastructure and which provided the stage 
      for today’s events,” says 
      Hubert du Mesnil, President of Réseau Ferré de France.
    
    
      “Beyond the technical performance, I 
      salute the human performance. This is the culmination of a project that 
      has drawn on the best of the expertise that ALSTOM, RFF and SNCF can 
      provide, over a 14-month period. Today’s 
      achievement offers countries and operators, wishing to make very 
      high-speed rail transport one of their strategic levers of growth, proof 
      of its reliability,” adds Philippe 
      Mellier, President of Alstom Transport.
    
    
      “This speed record represents a 
      major technological and human achievement. The results of tests 
      conducted on board the V150 trainset enable us to envisage a highly 
      promising future in the domain of very high-speed rail transport, based 
      around 4 priority areas: life on board, safety & performance, journey 
      and environment”, says Anne-Marie Idrac, 
      SNCF Chief Executive Officer.
    
    
      Serving to crown the collaboration between RFF, Alstom Transport and 
      SNCF, the record follows a major programme of tests that started on 15 
      January 2007 and in which over 300 engineers and technicians were 
      involved. 40 trial runs were conducted at speeds exceeding 450km/h, 
      making for a total of over 200 hours of tests and 3,200 kilometres 
      covered.
    
    
      The V150 trainset is made up of 2 TGVTM POS1 
      power cars, 3 TGVTM2 Duplex (double-decker) 
      coaches and 2 latest-generation very high-speed train motorized bogies 
      developed by Alstom: the AGVTM3. In total, this 
      system develops an output of 19.6MW (25,000 horsepower).
    
    
      Thousands of items of data recorded and analyzed
    
    
      Beyond the technical achievement, the programme has served to shape the 
      future of high-speed rail transport. An on-board measurement laboratory 
      has made it possible to analyse data recorded by 600 sensors with a view 
      to assessing the behaviour of the infrastructure and the materials at 
      previously unexplored speeds. These measurements have enabled the 
      validity of provisional models to be verified and aerodynamic, acoustic, 
      dynamic and vibratory validation to be performed.
    
    
      This historic record will serve to durably position RFF, Alstom 
      Transport and SNCF as world leaders in very high-speed rail transport.
    
    
      The previous record had been held since 18 May 1990 by SNCF with its 
      no. 325 TGVTM Atlantique trainset, which 
      reached a speed of 515.3km/h at PK 166 on the TGVTM 
      Atlantique line near to Vendôme.
    
    
      For further information about the rail speed record and the French 
      Excellence in Very High Speed Rail Transport programme, visit:
    
    
      www.record2007.com
    
    
      1 POS : “Paris-Ostfrankreich-Süddeutschland”
    
    
      2 TGVTM, Train à Grande Vitesse, is a trademark 
      of the SNCF
    
    
      3 AGV TM: “Automotrice 
      Grande Vitesse”