March 18, 2004

Bombardier of Montreal and Alstom of Paris agree to settle legal dispute with Amtrak in which sides blamed each other for failed attempt to apply European high-speed train technology to US rail system; agreement, which comes as Bombardier announces plans to eliminate 6,600 jobs worldwide in huge realignment of its troubled rail division in Europe, will enable manufacturers to concentrate on return to financial health; will also allow Amtrak to eliminate distraction just as it appears to be making progress in improving deteriorated infrastructure; all legal claims will be dropped and Bombardier-Alstom consortium will collect $42.5 million of approximately $70 million that Amtrak withheld in payments for $1.2 billion Acela high-speed rail project; Amtrak will assume responsibility for maintaining 20 Acela trains, beginning in October 2006, about seven years earlier than planned; photo (M)

Margo Jefferson reviews Watermill Theater-Propeller production of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, directed by Edward Hall; photos (M)

More students are passing New York State Regents exams, but achievement gap between white and minority children remains large; Schools Chancellor Joel I Klein uses new statistics to underscore need to end social promotion and to buttresss city's decision to impose tough new promotion requirements for third graders; graphs (M)

Anne Raver article on creating her own vegetable garden inspired by Thomas Jefferson's gardening practices at Monticello, where horticulturist Peter J Hatch has recreated Jefferson's free-spirited design mingling flowers and vegetables; photos (M)

Janet Maslin reviews book The Island at The Center of the World: The Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony That Shaped America by Russell Shorto; photo (M)