PARIS (AFP) - France's high-speed TGV train - already the fastest in the world - is to try to break its own record by hitting speeds above 540 kilometres per hour, its constructors said.

Currently 515.3km/h

One of the prides of French engineering, the superfast train a grande vitesse (TGV) set the current world rail record of 515.3 kilometres per hour, in test conditions, in 1990.

The new speed trial will be carried out in early April on the brand new TGV line connecting Paris to the eastern city of Strasbourg, which is set to open in June 2007.

According to the French engineering giant Alstom, which builds the TGV, the train is hoped to hit speeds of 550-570 kilometres per hour.

Currently, average travelling speeds for the TGV are around 300 kilometres per hour, but trains on the latest-generation Paris-Strasbourg line are to run slightly faster at 320 kilometres per hour. - AFP