LATE ARRIVAL OF THE FAST TRAINS

LIKE bobbed hair, wedgie shoes and the free lunch, passenger trains have gone out of style. In the past decade, with the rise in air travel, railroad passenger business has dropped more than 40%, and 13 lines have stopped intercity service. Many travelers might return to the rails if they could be assured of a clean, comfortable and fast ride. Unwilling to give up on passengers entirely, a few U.S. railroads are now preparing to give them just that by introducing new trains that travel at speeds of more than 100 m.p.h.

The Penn Central announced that its electric-powered Metroliner will go into service between New York and Washington on Jan. 16, cutting the trip from 3 hr. 35 min. to 2 hr. 59 min. Soon after, a second high-speed train, the gas-turbine TurboTrain will begin plying the New Haven line's rails between Boston and New York, lopping a full hour off the 4-hr. 15-min. trip.

Capacity Crowd. It is about time that the U.S. got some high-speed trains. Europe has long had them, and Japan's highly successful Tokaido express travels at 130 m.p.h. In December, Canadian National Railways started TurboTrain service between Montreal and Toronto, reducing the usual 4-hr. 59-min. trip to 3 hr. 50 min. The Canadian TurboTrains are as clean and smooth as jet planes and cost considerably less to ride. So far, passengers have filled them almost to capacity.

The U.S.'s high-speed trains have been financed under the $90 million High Speed Ground Transportation Act. It calls for joint Government-industry sponsorship of demonstration projects to see if high-speed service will help revive passenger trains and unsnarl highways and airways. It also aims to provide a model for similar rail service between such cities as Chicago and Detroit, Seattle and San Francisco.

No Engine. The Penn Central Metroliners, built by Philadelphia's Budd Co., can travel up to 160 m.p.h., but will be held to something under 120 m.p.h. Reasons: much slower conventional trains will be ahead of them on the tracks and the roadbeds cannot handle such great speeds. The steel-and-fiber-glass Metroliner units, self-propelled by four 640-h.p. electric motors, can be combined in any number to make a train without an "engine." So far, at least six of them have been accepted by the Penn Central. Another 44 Metroliner cars are scheduled to be put into service later in 1969.

In contrast to the rather boxy Metroliner, the three-car U.S. TurboTrain is a sleek harbinger of the future. It was built by United Aircraft--which also manufactured the longer Canadian National Turbos. Each of the two prototype TurboTrains cost an estimated $2,000,000 to build. Powered by six 550-h.p. turbine engines, the aluminum Turbos are capable of speeds up to 170 m.p.h. At first they will be restricted to 110 m.p.h. Riding at that speed, the three-car trains can carry about 140 passengers in great comfort. They can round sharp curves at speeds 40% higher than existing equipment--and a coffee cup filled to the brim will not spill over. Separate power-dome units on either end of the train house the engines, cabins for the two-man crew and first-class observation seats. An engineer can run the train in either direction without turning it around. He simply walks from one power-dome car to another.

Both of the trains had originally been scheduled to go into service almost two years ago. They have been held back by financial and technical problems. Japan, for example, spent $8 billion to build an entirely new roadbed and begin the Tokaido Line express. No entity in the U.S., least of all the railroad industry, has been willing to invest nearly that much. The Turbo-Trains have been further delayed because the New Haven's trustees have been unwilling to introduce costly new equipment until they merge their bankrupt line into a healthy company. The Penn Central was ordered by the Interstate Commerce Commission to take over the New Haven on Jan. 1. While it is trying to delay the merger, it is also negotiating with the Department of Transportation to run the Turbo-Trains on the New Haven tracks.

The fast trains, like jet planes, cost more than the older and slower equipment that they will replace. But they can more than pay their way--provided that travelers support them at the ticket window. How many will? A study by Arthur D. Little Inc. estimates that on trains restricted to speeds under 120 m.p.h., rail passenger traffic would rise 6% on the New York-Boston run and only 1 % on the New YorkWashington run. If the speed limit were raised to 150 m.p.h., however, the number of passengers would jump 65% on the former and 18% on the latter.

To make such speed possible, the railroads would have to spend billions to improve rails, roadbeds, signals and grade crossings, and that would require much Government subsidy. Since the Government obviously has higher-priority projects--spaceships, supersonic transport planes and down-to-earth welfare spending--such heavy expenditures will have to wait for some future generation. But the trains have finally begun to speed up, and that should be welcome news to passengers and railroads alike.

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