Paris - The French high-speed TGV train broke its own rail speed record when it reached 553 kilometres per hour, the daily Le Parisien reported Wednesday.
The record was reached Tuesday afternoon by a special train comprised of two motors and three specially equipped cars.
Two test runs were held in secret on the new Paris to Strasbourg line, with the train reaching the new record during the second run at a spot 193 kilometres east of Paris.
The previous record, 515.3 kilometres per hour, was set by another TGV train on May 18, 1990.
The TGV trains carrying passengers often reach speeds of 300 to 320kph, with the higher speeds more usual on the new line linking Strasbourg with the capital.
Magnetic levitation (maglev) trains have achieved faster speeds in Germany, with the Transrapid clocking 581kph, but the TGV holds the conventional contact-rail record.
A maglev train operates between Shanghai's international airport and China's business hub, but it is technically capable of only 450kph on the short 30-kilometre stretch of track. A longer link
between Shanghai and neighbouring cities is expected to see speeds of 500kph.
A new Shanghai to Beijing "bullet" train based on Japan's Shinkansen high-speed trains is expected to run at speeds of 250kph from April.
Japan's Shinkansen currently run at a maximum 300kph, but one company, JR East, is planning to push that to 360kph by 2011.
Nikkei Weekly reported recently that the next-generation Shinkansen, the Fastech 360, could achieve speeds of up to 398kph.
One executive at JR East told the newspaper that speed records during tests were "meaningless," however.
"What matters is speed during commercial operation," Takashi Endo was quoted as saying.
