Commuters on a new high-speed rail line in France got to race a Dassault Rafale fighter jet, which is pretty cool. I would like to snark how American it is of them, but America doesn’t really do high-speed rail.
To celebrate a new line between Connerré and Cesson-Sévigné, the French rail service was joined by the French Air Force, with a Dassault Rafale fighter jet following along the new train, looking cool and giving commuters the impression that they were mere pawns in France’s multi-transport racing gambit.
In the video from Puissance Française (French Power) on YouTube, you can also see what the video claims is a Dassault Alpha jet circling in the background.
Unfortunately, this isn’t a case of the train going as fast as a fighter jet, but rather a fighter jet going as slow as a train. This is even more obvious by the second jet literally running circles around the Rafale and the train.
But the people of France should still be proud, as the country operates one of the fastest rail systems in the world, with TGV trains often reaching speeds of around 200 mph, as well as a slew of land-speed records in excess of 350 mph.
I do have a rule when I’m traveling though, and it’s that I hope to never be surprised by looking out of the window and seeing a fighter jet looking back at me—plane, train, car, anything. We’ve all seen Live Free or Die Hard.