On September 2, 2006, Siemens set a new world speed record for locomotives on the high speed line between Ingolstadt and Nuremberg. The vehicle used was a Class ES64U4 multi-system electric locomotive. It broke the old record speed of 331 kilometers per hour originally achieved in 1955. German Railways (DB AG) and Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) were among the nineteen partners who collaborated in this ambitious project.

"By attempting to break the old record, Siemens put the quality of its locomotives to the test. At the same time, we demonstrated the innovative strength of the railway industry and the performance capability of rail," explained Hans M. Schabert, President of Siemens Transportation Systems, following the successful record attempt. He went on to emphasize: "Without the knowledge, experience and outstanding commitment of all the project partners and certification bodies involved, today's world record attempt simply would not have been possible."

“We cannot think of a better and more appropriate place to make the attempt than this stretch of high speed line running down through Bavaria. The new Bavarian north-south axis is made for a new world record. A modern train and a modern right-of-way today offer an impressive demonstration of the railroad as a technologically pioneering means of transportation,” said Klaus-Dieter Josel, DB AG’s representative to the Free State of Bavaria.

“On behalf of the ÖBB Group and ÖBB-Traktion GmbH, in particular, we are very proud to have fifty high-performance 1216-class locomotives in our fleet, whose multi-system capability is of special significance to Austria. The purchase of these locomotives pushes the total number in the Taurus fleet up to 382 units. This world speed record attempt underscored not only the power and speed, but also the reliability of this locomotive and therefore showed that the decision to modernize our fleet with the Taurus was definitely the right one. The 1216 will be used primarily in connection with ÖBB railjet, the new high-speed, high-quality passenger rail service which will become the premium product of our long-distance operations. And the Taurus 1216 will be the flagship of the Taurus fleet,” said Herwig Wiltberger, Managing Director of ÖBB-Traktion GmbH.

The Internationale Gesellschaft für Eisenbahnverkehr (IGE), an international company for rail transportation located in Hersbruck in the Bavarian region of Central Franconia, is the official organizer of this world record run. "For us, it was a challenge to show just what a medium-sized railway company can do, for never before has a private railway company set a world speed record on rail. This is the result of the constructive and unbureaucratic collaboration between the individual project partners and also the confidence in our ability to stage such a project," explained Armin Götz, Managing Director of IGE.

The locomotive used in the attempt was a series-produced unit built for ÖBB. Only a pantograph and two axles were fitted with special measuring instruments. The latter supplied the necessary information for monitoring the runs. The data was collected and evaluated in a test car of DB Systemtechnik. It contained the monitoring devices for recording all the important data of the record attempt and, above all, the actual speed that was ultimately reached.