By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff

Regular users of Amtrak's rather sluggish Boston-New York service have to wait a little longer for the high-speed, three-hour trip - but when it arrives, they'll hardly recognize it as train travel.

The Acela crews will even have new uniforms, distinguishing them from the rest of Amtrak's rail operations.

There will be new stations at Route 128 in Westwood and in New London, Conn. Changes will be made at other stations from Boston to New York and on to Washington to accommodate the sleek new train sets - six passenger cars and a wedge-nosed electric engine at each end.

The trains will have conference tables, laptop electrical outlets at the seats (no Internet hookups yet), storage for oversized luggage, a wide menu of food (critics will be waiting to pounce), and pub-style cafe cars for those who have had enough of their computer screens. Gourmet coffees, beer on tap, and televisions, too, in case the home teams are playing.

Wayne Davis, president of Train Riders Northeast, a rail advocacy group, sat on the new train at the Bombardier plant. ''Exciting, luxurious,'' he pronounced.

Each seat will have foot rests and adjustable head cushions, plus large tray tables. Lighting will be adjustable, and there will be two music channels on what Amtrak calls ''personal audio programming.''

Each train has 32 conference tables, for groups getting ready for that big biz presentation. And for those whose mobile-phone batteries have run down, there are five public phones on each train.

Even the windows are larger than on the current trains.

Restrooms feature backlit mirrors, shelves, and baby-changing tables. The trains are, of course, compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act.