Paris
Roaring like a jet plane, a French train set a new speed record for conventional rail travel this week, as it rocketed down the track at 357.2 mph. The TGV—for train à grande vitesse, as French high-speed trains are known—kicked up a long wake of dust and gave off sparks during the demonstration, meant to impress Chinese buyers. China has said it plans to build more than 7,500 miles of high-speed railways over the next few years. Alstom Transports, the TGV builder, came close to its goal of surpassing the world speed record held by Japan’s magnetically levitated train, which hit 361 mph in 2003.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raidsIn the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classroomsPros and cons The devices could be major distractions
