The X2000, Other Trains And Other Options -- Europe's Fastest Coming To Call

THE Swedish manufactured X2000 is spending the Fourth of July weekend in Seattle as part of a national demonstration tour. This high-speed passenger train is capable of running at sustained speeds of 135 mph on the Vancouver, B.C.-Seattle-Portland route and is designed to run on existing tracks.

The Swedish engineers created a train that tilts as it goes around sharp corners so that the passengers don't feel the centrifugal forces.

The X2000 is fast. It did a speed run on the East Coast of 151 mph and has been approved to run at 135 mph in some sections of the New York to Boston corridor. Last year in Germany it ran at 156 mph along an electrified route.

But that's not all the U.S. will be seeing of high-speed trains. ICE, the German Intercity Express, was due to arrive last week in Baltimore. ICE officials say they can run their train at 155 mph on the same route that the X2000 does 135 mph on.

Later, this fall, the Talgo is coming to Seattle from Spain. The Talgo train "Pendular" has a passive-tilt system that has very-low-cost maintenance as compared to the X2000 active-tilt system. The Pendular Talgo has run at 187 mph in tests in Spain as compared to the top speed of 156 mph for the X2000.

Other high-speed trains include the French TGV whose operating speed of 186 mph is being increased to 200 mph. The TGV has the current speed record of 320 mph. The Japanese bullet train's latest version, called the Star 21, is designed to run all day at 200-plus mph with an estimated top speed of 248 mph.

Buried in a scrap yard back east is an American-designed and built Metroliner that the Pennsylvania Railroad tested at 164 mph in 1967. The current Metroliner runs at 125 mph on the New York to D.C. run. That is only 10 mph slower than the Swedish-made X2000.

When Amtrak hooks up its new locomotive to the Metroliner, it should increase the operating speed to 135 to 140 mph. This new locomotive, the AMD-103, has 1,000 more horsepower than existing Amtrak locomotives. In Seattle, the X2000 will be pulled by an AMD-103. Hopefully, Amtrak will put high-speed gears in it, so we can travel to Portland at 135 mph.

But what about trains that can travel twice as fast as the X2000 using newer technology - magnetically levitated trains, known as maglevs? The main technical problems of maglev trains have been solved and at least one version is ready to be built. The German-built Transrapid 07 has been selected to be constructed in Orlando, Fla. It will run at 250 mph and travel 13.5 miles in 6 1/2 minutes. If one was built in Seattle, you could go from downtown to Sea-Tac International Airport in the same time.

The Japanese maglev has gone 300 mph and they are investing $3 billion in a new test facility that will be running next year.

If we are to build a maglev train we will have to import it from Japan or Germany. The U.S. government is planning to invest $29 million in studying a test facility in 1994 and may be building it in 2001.

Where are we going to run the high-speed trains? There are really only three options:

Option No 1: Burlington Northern's existing freight train right of way is, of course, the first and obvious choice. It already exists and Amtrak already uses its right of way for a small "per ton/per mile" fee. Burlington Northern is being very cooperative by letting Amtrak and the state of Washington improve its tracks and grade crossings so we can have 135 mph trains running between Portland and Vancouver, B.C. The state of Washington has already voted to give BN $240 million to improve its tracks.

Option No 2: Buy new right of way and build new and straight railroad tracks across the state. It would be very expensive - over $20 billion. This is necessary to achieve speeds over 150 mph. This is what both France and Japan have done. They have the fastest and safest high speed rail systems in the world. Both countries will have passenger trains running at 200 mph within a year.

Option No 3: Use the interstate right of way. This is free. With an elevated maglev train, you can average 240 mph between Portland and Vancouver, B.C. The travel time from downtown Seattle to downtown Portland - 45 minutes. From downtown Seattle to Moses Lake international airport would take 40 minutes. A statewide maglev system is estimated to cost between $12 and $15 billion for 600 miles.

A high-speed train is the best way to relieve congestion at our nation's major airports. In France, the TGV's Paris-to-Lyons trains have captured more than 80 percent of the commuter air traffic. This allows the airport to focus on highly profitable international flights. Sea-Tac Airport is definitely in need of a third runway. The third runway with its required new electronics will cost a bundle of hard-to-find tax money. Sea-Tac opponents have indicated that the cost is close to $1.3 billion. If a high-speed maglev train system were built instead, then Moses Lake international airport would qualify as a viable "Wayport" to Sea-Tac and Sea-Tac would not get its third runway. All air freight flights could be rerouted to Moses Lake as well as all the older and noisier jets.

What's the cost to get X2000 trains in Washington? Amtrak is planning to buy 29 new train sets like the X2000. They only cost $13 million a set. The real costs are in upgrading the tracks, eliminating the grade crossings and installing the overhead electric wiring. The total is estimated to cost $6 billion. This is in Washington state, going from Portland to Vancouver and from Seattle to Spokane. This gets us up to where we can run at the X2000's maximum safe speed.

Anything over 150 mph requires total separation from freight trains and other commuter-like trains. To quote an Amtrak official, "You'd almost have to shut down the railroad to run something that would be overtaking other traffic (which includes a mix of inter-city and commuter trains operating at speeds from 60 to 125 mph with a broad variety of station stop patterns). If you were to introduce a 150-mph train into that mix, essentially you would have to clear the track."

To go over 150 mph requires all new right of way, new tracks and new overhead wiring which will cost at least $20 billion. Some of this money would come from the railroad fund, but state taxes would make up the difference.

The alternative, a maglev system, however, has some very attractive elements:

1. The interstate right of way is free.

2. You start at 300 mph, not 125 to 135 mph.

3. The environmental impact is minimal in that the elevated system is in the center of the freeway.

4. You can go 400 to 500 mph if you're willing to buy the electricity.

5. Profitable, once built, the system would not require tax subsidies.

6. Maintenance costs are 10 percent of a 186 mph steel-wheel system.

The technology is here now. A Korean company came over here and bought off-the-shelf parts and went back home. It took only two years to design and to build a maglev train for their Expo '93.

When you see the X2000, remember it's only 10 mph faster than the Metroliner and that there are other trains and other options.

Patrick Anderson is a Seattle-based transportation consultant.