- Start
- Mar 28, 195590% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
- End
- Mar 29, 195590% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
SNCF Sets the Rail World Speed Record at 331 km/h
- In March 1955 SNCF's CC 7107 and BB 9004 locomotives both attained 331 km/h between Bordeaux and Dax, with records dated 28 and 29 March 1955[2][3]
- CC 7107 was ready on 28 March and BB 9004 on 29 March; the test director declared the two locomotives ex-aequo[2]
- CC 7107 was modified with a changed gear ratio, monobloc wheels and a streamlined bonnet and rear fairing; BB 9004's rear pantograph was destroyed around 290 km/h and changed before the run[2]
- Earlier tests on 21 February 1954 between Dijon and Beaune reached 243 km/h with CC 7121[2][3]
- The locomotive speed record stood until 2 September 2006, when a Siemens Taurus reached 357 km/h; the tests fed into the 1967 Mistral and the TGV[3]
References 382% CONFIDENCE
The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.
- [1]90%youtube.com/watch?v=ZASP3fFqWYgyoutube.com· Posted Sep 15, 2026· Starts Mar 28, 1955 ✓· Ends Mar 29, 1955 ✓· 50% of score
French railway history sources (docrail.fr[2], Wikipedia’s[3] SNCF Class CC 7100 article) date the 331 km/h record run to March 28-29, 1955, crediting both the CC 7107 and BB 9004.
- [2]75%Le record du monde de vitesse du 28 et 29 mars 1955 - DocRaildocrail.fr· Added Sep 15, 2026· 50% of score
A French rail-history site corroborates the exact March 28-29, 1955 dates and locomotive identities for the record.[1]
- [3]85%SNCF Class CC 7100 - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org· Published Mar 29, 1955· 0% of score
The Wikipedia article on the CC 7100 class documents the March 1955 world speed record runs, including the 325 km/h and 331 km/h results on successive days, matching the "Quest for Speed" claim in the documentary.
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