Trains take the strain out of travel

On overseas trips, many American business travelers do what is almost unthinkable back home. They take the train - and in increasing numbers, as high-speed rail service expands in Europe, China and Japan.

"I wouldn't even consider taking the train in the U.S. except along the Northeast Corridor - and that might be just a commuter train from North White Plains to New York," said Ralph Smith, who searches the globe for low-cost supplies for Tennant, a maker of industrial cleaning machines based in Minneapolis.

"But trains in Europe run like a clock," he said. "They're nice and clean and fast. And the rail staffs are very helpful to Americans who kind of don't know where they're going."

In contrast to the stressful turmoil of airline travel, rail trips, when done right, can be both efficient and civilized, as travelers like Smith can attest. They can even be cultural when passengers mingle and talk while viewing scenery through picture windows. "What do you see out the window at 37,000 feet?" ads for the French railroads ask travelers.

"Virtually all the big global companies use trains worldwide more than ever," said Bill Connors, executive director and chief operating officer of the National Business Travel Association, a U.S. trade group. "They want travelers to be productive and happy. The train takes a lot of the hassle out of going to airports."

Railways are rolling out services that make it easier to do business while traveling from one city to another.

"Our first-class cars on most high-speed routes are geared to corporate travelers. with trays for laptops, open or private tables for small meetings, and Wi-Fi we're installing," said Fabrice Morel, president and chief executive of Rail Europe, a marketing group. In answer to complaints that the car interiors have the look of an airline lounge, the French have brought in the designers Philippe Starck and Christian Lacroix to add some interest to the décor.

Speed is of course one of the major allures of foreign train travel. France's vaunted TGV, or Train à Grande Vitesse, streamliners streak along at 180 miles per hour, or 290 kilometers per hour, or more. That is about as fast as a commercial airliner on takeoff.

"Europe's expanding high-speed network is redefining short-haul travel," said Guillaume Pepy, chief executive of the National Society of French Railroads, the French rail system. Recently, a TGV set a new speed record at 357 miles per hour on test tracks. And the French rail system plans to launch high-speed service in June between Paris and Frankfurt that will cut travel time nearly in half on tracks used both by French TGVs and Germany's fast Inter City Express, also known as ICE, trains. China is also getting involved in the speed game. A new magnetic levitation train shuttles between Pudong International Airport in Shanghai and the city's downtown area, accelerating to about 240 miles per hour during the eight-minute trip. A high-speed line between Beijing and Shanghai is scheduled to open in 2010.

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