By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff

The so-called high-speed rail service that is to get under way between Boston and New York sometime in 2000 draws chuckles from rail buffs wise in the ways of the rest of the world.

Yes, Amtrak's new Acela train (www.acela.com) looks sleek and futuristic, and will hit 150 miles per hour - in a few places. It will be a welcome improvement in the lives of many commuters who regularly cross state lines; New York will be only three hours away from Boston, compared with about five on the diesel trains that operate today.

Discover the Aclea train, complete with conference tables, pub-style cafe cars and public telephones. [ Acela article ]

But what is considered ''high-speed'' in the Northeast Corridor - though much faster than the status quo - doesn't qualify for that label in other parts of the world.

The Acela ''is an important advance for the Northeast Corridor and Boston-New York corridor,'' said Joseph Sussman, professor of civil and environmental engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, ''but it's not extraordinary. It's not high-speed by international standards.''

Can it supplant the air shuttle or a long, weary car ride to become the travel mode of choice between Boston and New York? Maybe. Although its speed won't be record-breaking by world standards, the answer to that question will have a lot to do with what happens elsewhere in the nation.

James RePass, president of National Corridors Initiative, a pro-train advocacy group (www.ipt.com/aboard/nci/nci.htm), says rail travel is undergoing a revival nationwide because it's a good alternative to congested interstates, especially near cities.

Transportation specialists don't expect trains to prevail in those long, straight runs across vast expanses: Chicago to Los Angeles, for example, or Miami to Phoenix.

But Amtrak (www.amtrak.com) believes it can be successful on routes where the time and expense involved in getting to and from airports, combined with increasingly frequent delays, have travelers hungry for alternatives. It already has detailed plans to replicate what it expects to be successful Boston-New York-Washington service to several other heavily traveled corridors, such as Los Angeles-San Diego, and Vancouver-Seattle-Portland.

Some are more suited for truly high-speed rail than others. The Northeast Corridor is congested, its track is among the oldest in the nation, and it winds its way along a coastal route from Boston to New York that would have to be straightened out at enormous cost before greater speeds could be attained.

Still, three hours downtown-to-downtown sounds pretty good, especially when you can work or relax in some comfort along the way - not crammed into an airline seat the size of a hot-dog bun - and pay approximately half of what the airfare normally costs.

Currently, what is left of passenger rail in the country is being handled by a few electric trains and lots of diesel-powered locomotives. Diesel is what the MBTA's commuter-rail uses, and Amtrak service to New York goes diesel to New Haven, where it switches to electric.

The Acela will be fully electric-powered, running along under high-voltage electrical wires now being strung along the corridor. Eliminating the switch in New Haven alone will save about half an hour on that run. But in a few years, after commuters get jaded about their three-hour service, what can they look forward to? Here's a sample of what's on the drawing board, in production, about to be tested, or actually in service in the way of passenger rail transportation worldwide. France

The French company Alstom makes the TGV, or train a grande vitesse - very high-speed train (www.transport.alstom.com). The original high-speed line in France was Paris to Lyons in the 1900s, with a top speed of 165 mile per hour. But things have improved.

The TGV Atlantique route gets up to 187 m.p.h., and the TGV Nord is pushing - but not quite up to - 200. The French have a 200-plus m.p.h. train in the design stages.

The Eurostar (www.eurostar.com), which runs between Paris and London via the Chunnel, goes 180-plus m.p.h. in France, and someday it will go fast in England, too.

But all these trains run on new rail lines, straight and smooth and specially built for higher speeds. ''If you reflect on what would be in volved in even trying to find a new right-of-way from Boston to New York,'' said Mark Yachmetz, director of the office of passenger programs with the US Federal Railway Administration (www.fra.dot.gov), ''it would be a formidable challenge.'' Japan

The Japanese are famous for their Shinkansen train, which at first, in the mid-1960s, went about 125 m.p.h. Japan now has routes that have pushed into the 160 m.p.h. range.

Like the French, the Japanese think they can push the old steel-wheel-on-steel-track technology above 200, and they're working on it. But, unlike the French, the Japanese also have a mag-lev, or magnetic levitation, program under way. Germany

Siemens (www.siemans.com) makes the ICE (intercity express) train, capable of a top speed of 160 m.p.h. Germany unveiled its high-speed service early in this decade.

''In Europe, in theory, all the systems are supposed to be compatible,'' said Yachmetz. But the Germans are concentrating on eliminating the friction of that steel against steel. ''The Germans are basically still trying to figure out what is the answer to mag-lev before they work on improving the ICE technology.''

Other countries run trains built in France, Japan, and England - or sometimes variations. The Acela, for example, will employ ''tilt-train'' technology developed in Sweden that allows trains to tilt while traveling at high speeds around corners, keeping passengers from sliding from side to side.

Spain runs high-speed rail with France's TGV. And there are high-speed rail projects being developed in South Korea, Taiwan, and China, where a Beijing-to-Shanghai route is in the early stages. Australia is looking at high-speed trains, too.

In the United States, because of the long distances between its largest cities, and the need for high-speed alternatives to air shuttles between relatively close population centers, the effort has been to rebuild and improve existing rail lines.

Acela is the first. But high-speed traditionally has meant electrically powered, and it costs a lot of money to string electric wires, or catenary, long distances.

''The problem in this country,'' said Yachmetz, ''is we don't have the density of traffic outside the Northeast Corridor to justify the investment needed for electric operation.''

Just switching from diesel to electric on the New Haven-to-Boston stretch is costing more than $3 million per mile. For that reason, the Federal Railway Administration and train manufacturers are looking at other options.

Canadian train manufacturer Bombardier (www.bombardier.com), which built the Acela, supplied an extra ''power car,'' as electric locomotives are called, that can be outfitted with a gas turbine engine. Basically, a turbo-train.

The turbine, a form of jet engine, will be used to generate electricity on board, which will run the motors powering the train. That will be tested next summer on the same Pueblo, Colo., test tracks where the Acela is running right now.

The following year, a modified gas turbine will be tried, one with a flywheel that would effectively store the energy generated at high speeds and use it to accelerate from a stopped or slow speed situation in which jet engines (a turbine is basically a jet) don't do well.

But American engineers also are optimistic about mag-lev, using powerful electrical magnets to literally levitate the trains from their platforms, reducing all that friction and allowing them to be propelled along faster and more efficiently.

The current federal transportation law earmarks $950 million for a mag-lev demonstration program in which seven participants are competing to make a mag-lev train work on a corridor up to 40 miles long. The first test-run will be by 2005, officials hope. And that's a real test run, with passengers. ''Day after day, when kids stick chewing gum in the doors and stuff,'' said Yachmetz.

In the meantime, the various corridors around the country that might run high-speed rail are focusing on short-term improvements. A nine-state network around Chicago is concentrating on eliminating grade crossings, putting the tracks under or over the highways, to allow speedier trains and make travel safer.

When Americans start riding these fast trains, what will it feel like? Will they all get sick?

''No,'' said Yachmetz. ''You become 'velocitized' very quickly.''

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. is the Globe's transportation reporter. His Starts & Stops column (email starts@globe.com) runs every Monday.

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