Article: AGV: the next generation: AGV, the world's newest and fastest high-speed train, was unveiled at Alstom's plant in La Rochelle, France, on February 5 by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France. Alstom's faith in its new train has already been rewarded with a contract for 25 trains from the world's first open-access high-speed operator, reports David Briginshaw from France.(High speed)

THE roll-out of the first AGV is the culmination of 10 years of development work by Alstom and a major tribute to its faith in the future. The decision to go ahead with AGV--Alstom's fourth generation of high-speed trains following on from the successful TGV family--was taken in 2003 when the company faced a major financial crisis.

"We developed AGV at our own expense and at a time when Alstom was going through a very troubled period because we wanted to ensure our future," says Mr Patrick Kron, Alstom's chairman and CEO. AGV was also developed without any client-imposed specification, which Alstom describes as a "radical step in the railway industry."

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