Core77

French used to be the language of diplomacy; now it's the language of high-speed rail. French engineering group Alstom broke the rail speed record today by getting their V150 (first photo) up to 357 miles per hour--that's 574 kph, or nearly two football fields per second.

Shockingly, this is not the fastest train in the world, though it is the fastest rail train. In 2003 the Japanese cranked a mag-lev prototype (second photo) up to 361 miles an hour.

It should be pointed out that high-speed rail is not just an engineering pissing contest; while it's not caught on in the 'States, countries in South America, Europe and Asia all recognize that it's faster than flying in trips of 3 hours or less (when you factor in transit-to-airport and the security waits, etc.). China and India are keen on setting up high-speed rail networks, and Alstom and their Japanese rivals will be vying for a piece of that business.

We searched in vain for a video link of the V150 test, but they probably won't be available for another week or so. In the meantime you can check out this clip of another Japanese mag-lev hitting 500 kph. The exterior shots show you why these trains have earned their "bullet" monikers.

[Via the New York Times.]