Alstom tests high-speed train at 225 mph

[IMAGE]Alstom-AGV-full.jpg[/IMAGE]Alstom's AGV1 high-speed train has begun its first dynamic tests at 225 mph, the commercial speed for which it has been designed.

The test runs are to be performed on a 106-mile section of France's Eastern high-speed line, between the Champagne-Ardenne and Lorraine stations.

The runs will allow for validation of Alstom's new high-speed platform at the limits of its commercial speed with a view to its future approval. In total, over the 12 days of testing, close to 60 engineers from the various industrial sites of Alstom Transport and Eurailtest2 will be involved, and over 4,660 miles covered on board the AGV.

The measurements and data compiled via 4,000 sensors with which the trainset is equipped will be analyzed by the Alstom engineers, who will suggest adjustments and modifications necessary for the train to be validated.

Following the testing on the Eastern high-speed line, the AGV will return to the test center at the Velim test ring in the Czech Republic, where it will complete its validation program. It will also be run during 2009 on the Italian railway network, to gaining approval for delivery of the trainsets ordered by Italian transport company, NTV4. The first production trains will be delivered from 2010.