Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Alstom SA, the world's largest train maker, unveiled its new-generation high-speed train aimed at helping it conquer export markets as rail operators try to win passengers from airlines on domestic routes.

The new train, called AGV, which stands for Automotrice a Grande Vitesse, will run as fast as 360 kilometers, or 225 miles, an hour on commercial routes, up from the 300-320 kilometers an hour for Alstom's current models.

``The AGV will help reaffirm our leadership in high-speed trains,'' Alstom Chief Executive Officer Patrick Kron said today, inaugurating the train in Aytre, near La Rochelle, in western France. ``We developed this train using our own funds, which is a very innovative step for the railway industry.''

The increased speed stems from smaller and more powerful engines in every car rather than power cars at each end of the train, the company, based near Paris, said in a statement today. The train will beat Siemens AG's Velaro, set to run at 350 kilometers an hour this year between Madrid and Barcelona.

Alstom, which averted bankruptcy in 2004, has sold 25 AGVs to Italian train operator Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, an order valued at 650 million euros ($957.5 million), the French company said on Jan. 17. The train will help Alstom, which last year set a world trial rail speed record of 574.8 kilometers an hour, compete for orders abroad and in France.

``The AGV marks a renaissance for Alstom,'' said French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who attended the inauguration today. ``The inauguration of the AGV shows that Alstom, whatever its difficulties, never sacrificed its research and development.''

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The new generation train will use 20 percent less fuel on average and transport 250 to 650 passengers, Alstom said. It will be in service by the beginning of 2012 in Italy.

Germany's state-owned Deutsche Bahn AG may buy AGV trains from Alstom, Stuttgarter Zeitung reported yesterday. The railway made a pan-European call for bids four months ago for the delivery of as many as 15 high-speed trains, the newspaper said.

France's Societe Nationale des Chemins de Fer Francais, or SNCF, is drawing up plans to introduce faster high-speed trains by 2013, Agnes Grisoglio, a spokeswoman at the Paris-based company, said on Dec. 18. Trains for the planned Paris-Bordeaux- Toulouse line opening in 2013 could use AGVs.

SCNF is scheduled to call for tenders later this year to renew its aging train fleet. The contract for at least 300 cars is valued at between 6 billion euros and 8 billion euros.

``We have a 25-yearlong shared life with Alstom, which is our only supplier of high-speed trains,'' Guillaume Pepy, SNCF's chief executive officer, said today. ``We're of course very interested in the AGV.''

Potential bidders such as Alstom and Canada's Bombardier Inc. will need to meet speed, safety and systems requirements for trains that will likely run until 2040, Pepy said.

Alstom has built two-thirds of the world's high-speed trains, including the Eurostar that runs between Paris and London. Last year, it supplanted Montreal-based Bombardier as the world's No. 1 train maker by sales. Siemens AG of Germany is the world's third-biggest train maker.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anne-Sylvaine Chassany in Paris achassany@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: February 5, 2008 07:11 EST