Viva Las France!!!

A French TGV (train à grande vitesse, French for "high-speed train") train broke a world speed record on Tuesday when it hurtled down a newly built track at 574.8 kilometres per hour (357 mph) in the northern Champagne region. The special train called V150, an enhanced version of trains that will run on the Paris-Strasbourg line from June 10, has been preparing for the record run for weeks and carried journalists and other guests for the official attempt.

From about 380 kph, vibrations in the train became more and more noticeable. At 490 kph passengers became slightly dizzy. At 540 kph it became difficult to remain standing despite the stability of the train.

Live television images showed bystanders on overhead bridges cheering as the chromium and black coloured train roared past, followed by an aircraft filming the record-breaking run.

The absolute speed record for trains, 581 kph (361 mph), was set in 2003 by a 'maglev' (magnetic levitation) train in Japan. Such trains do not run on rails but glide on a magnetic field. The previous speed record for a train running on rails was 515.3 kph, set in France in 1990.

Check out the mindblowing video... simply superb.... especially the one where the train shoots off like a bullet past the dazed onlookers on top of the bridge...