A French train broke the world speed record Tuesday for conventional rail trains when it roared along at more than 350 mph, just a few points behind the Japanese magnetically levitated train. France's TGV, with a 25,000-horsepower engine and special wheels, reached 357.2 mph as against Japan's 361.

The black and chrome V150 with three double-decker cars surpassed the record of 320.2 mph (515.3 kph) set in 1990 by another French train. Engineers attributed the two supercharged locomotives and extra-large wheels for the speed.

The train is manufactured by Alstom, which hopes the test will boost sales abroad. Other fast trains include Japanese Shinkansen and the German Inter-City Express high-speed trains.

The train, which runs some 125 miles east of the capital on a new track linking Paris with Strasbourg gave the demonstration to China.

AP quotes Eric Pieczac, who operated the train as saying, "We saw the countryside go by a little faster than we did during the tests. I'm proud to have fulfilled the mission."

Other than France, only South Korea has so far bought the TGVs.