Operation V150 trials were carried out on the
LGV Est prior to its June 2007 opening. The trials were conducted jointly by
SNCF, TGV builder
Alstom, and LGV Est owner
Réseau Ferré de France between 15 January 2007 and 15 April 2007. Following a series of increasingly high-speed runs, the official speed record attempt took place on 3 April 2007. The top speed of , ) was reached at kilometre point 193 near the village of Le Chemin, between the Meuse and
Champagne-Ardenne TGV stations, where the most favorable profile exists. for display at the foot of the
Eiffel Tower The speed record of 1990 was unofficially broken multiple times during the test campaign that preceded and followed the certified record attempt, the first time on 13 February 2007 with a speed of , and the last time on 15 April 2007 with a speed of .
V150 record train The train used for the speed record was code named V150, and comprised three modified Duplex cars, fitted with two powered bogies similar to the
AGV prototype, marshalled between a pair of TGV power cars from
POS trainset 4402. The train had four more powered axles than trainset 325 used in the 1990 speed record, and had a maximum power output of instead of the on a standard TGV POS. This unusual composition was used to obtain high speed test data on disparate technical elements including the new asynchronous traction motors on the POS power cars, the lightweight synchronous permanent magnet traction motors on the AGV bogies, the actively controlled
pantograph, and the Duplex bi-level configuration which had never been used in very high speed trials. Aerodynamic improvements, similar to the 1990 record train, were refined in a
wind tunnel and provided a 15% reduction in drag from the standard configuration. These improvements included a front air dam, roof fairings over the pantograph openings, membranes to cover the space between the cars, and a flush-mounted windshield. Over 600 sensors were fitted on various parts of both the engines and the cars. The train set ran with larger wheels with a diameter of instead of , to limit the rotational speed of the
powertrain. after the record
Test track The record runs took place on a section of track 1 on the
LGV Est, usually heading west, between kilometre posts 264 (town of
Prény) and 120 (near the
Champagne-Ardenne TGV station). This section of the LGV was chosen for its vertical profile and gentle curves, with favorable downhill segments leading to the highest speeds between kilometre posts 195 and 191, near the border between the
Meuse and
Marne departments. The track
superelevation was increased to support higher speeds.
Catenary voltage was increased to 31 kV from the standard 25 kV. The mechanical tension in the wire was increased to 40 kN from the standard 25 kN. The speed of the
transverse wave induced in the overhead wire by the train's
pantograph was thus increased to , providing a margin of safety beyond the train's maximum speed. Several measurement stations were installed along the test tracks to monitor stresses in the track and
ballast, noise, aerodynamic effects, and catenary dynamics. Between kilometre posts 223 and 167, where speeds exceeded , the track was under close surveillance.
Record runs Between 15 January 2007 and 15 April 2007, the V150 train travelled at and above for a cumulative distance of . For each high speed run, another TGV performed a sweep of the track before the V150 train was cleared to start. This sweep was performed at a sustained —the peak speed reached in the record of 1981—by
TGV POS trainset 4404 in a standard eight-car configuration. The acceleration of the V150 train took place over a distance of . During certain runs, including the official record run, the V150 train was chased by an
Aérospatiale Corvette airplane to provide data relay and uplink of
live television images. == See also ==