The French TGV’s 2007 world-record maximum speed was 574.8 km/h.
The record was achieved on 3 April 2007 during Operation V150, a programme of high-speed tests on France’s new LGV Est line. The specially modified TGV train, set 4402, reached 574.8 km/h (357.2 mph) near Le Chemin between the Meuse and Champagne-Ardenne TGV stations. The figure remains the recognised world record for a conventional steel-wheel train.
The train was not an ordinary passenger service. Engineers used two powered cars and three trailers, enlarged wheels, increased electrical power and other modifications to push beyond normal operating limits. “V150” referred to the target speed of 150 metres per second, equivalent to 540 km/h.
The record is often confused with the speeds of everyday TGV services, which are much lower and designed for repeated commercial operation. It is also distinct from magnetic-levitation records: Japan’s L0 maglev later exceeded 600 km/h, but it does not use conventional steel wheels on rails. The exact stored figure, 574.8 km/h, is therefore the right answer for the 2007 TGV record.