Flash Facts: Bullet Trains

CNN is reporting that a French bullet train--a TGV, or Train a Grande Vitesse--has broken the world speed record for conventional rail trains. The V150's 25,000-horsepower engine pushed it to 357.2 mph (574.8 kph) on a run from Paris to Strasbourg, past the existing record of 320.2 mph (515.3 kph) set in 1990. The ultimate world speed record for trains remains unchallenged, however, set by a Japanese mag-lev train that attained 361 mph (580.9 kph) in 2003. "Pierre-Louis Rochet, former head of French state-run rail network SNCF's international division, said this may be as fast as it gets on standard rails."