Supertrains - The Race for Speed

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For the second time, the TGV, France’s high-speed train, is the fastest train of the world. Yet, its engineers are continuously pushing for even higher speeds, having launched the new TGV Ocean and the AGV, the TGV of the future.

It all began back in the 1950s with the CC 7100 series and its electric locomotive, which was considerably lighter than any of its predecessors. This technological gem made history by breaking the world’s speed record for trains. As the electrification of rail traffic proved to be a success, more and more of the less powered steam locomotives were phased out.

Since then, the successors of the original TGV have smashed all records for rail-bound traffic, culminating in 2007 with an incredible performance of 574 kilometres per hour.

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