[BBC News] France to unveil super-fast train

[Mark]

France to unveil super-fast train

The AGV is billed as the successor to the TGV
French engineering giant Alstom is due to unveil a new high-speed train.
The AGV (Automotrice Grande Vitesse) train will travel at up to 360km/h (224mph), powered by engines placed under each carriage, the company says.

Alstom compares the AGV - successor to the TGV - to the world's largest passenger plane, the Airbus A380 plane, in terms of importance and innovation.

The unveiling at Alstom's research centre in La Rochelle will be attended by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

With an engine under each carriage, the AGV - which translates as "high-speed, self-propelled carriage" - is unlike the TGV, which has engines only at the back and front.

The TGV's maximum speed currently is 320km/h.

The AGV's new engines are more energy-efficient and the innovative multiple-unit design allows more passenger space, Alstom says.

It also reduces maintenance costs, the company says.

The new train achieved a new world rail speed record for a train on conventional rails last April, reaching 574.8km/h (356mph).

The Italian operator NTV has already bought 25 of the trains, and will operate them on the Italian high-speed network at a speed of 300km/h in 2011.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7227807.stm