574.8 kmph!

That's how fast France's high-speed V150 went on Tuesday to shatter the existing world speed record for conventional rail trains.

The speed train with three double-decker cars bettered the previous record of 515.3 kilometres per hour, set in 1990 by the French fast train.

The record was made on one of the trial runs on a new track east of Paris.

People lined bridges clapping and cheering as the train zipped underneath them.

The V150, however, fell short of the ultimate record set by Japan's magnetic train, which sped to 581 kilometres per hour in 2003.

Photograph: Jean-Christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images