High-Speed Italian Train Introduced

ROME — The first of four new super-rapido trains departed from Rome on Sunday morning and reached Milan in 4 hours and 55 minutes.

The trains, traveling at speeds of up to 124 m.p.h., shave about an hour off the 393-mile trip in an ordinary rapido train, previously the fastest way to travel between the two cities. There are two trips a day in each direction.

The $78 one-way, first-class ticket includes lunch or dinner in a restaurant car. Three hostesses offer newspapers, magazines and coffee to passengers in their seats.

The introduction of the new trains is the first step in a modernization program by the Italian rail system that foresees trains capable of traveling more than 180 m.p.h., making the Rome-Milan trip in 3 hours and 15 minutes, railway officials said.