Dutra's Depot

Thirty stories above the street, the world's largest clock told the time. In the huge, marbled lobbies of South America's tallest and finest railway station, loudspeakers poured out sambas. But the Government-operated Central do Brasil's new Dom Pedro II Station in Rio was incomplete behind its majestic fac,ade. Train sheds had still to be roofed. At rush hour 150,000 commuters and fellow travelers jammed narrow platforms, were squirted on & off trains like toothpaste. The grandeur of Dom Pedro II Station could not mask the rickety state of Brazil's railways.

Derailments frequently make thousands late for work. Equipment is so run-down that passengers can hardly remember when the Central do Brasil has run on time. Last fortnight, commuting cariocas rioted on a rival suburban train, burned three Toonerville-type coaches.

But the Dutra Government is working hard to mend matters. Last week, experts in London and Sao Paulo were deep in dicker over modernization plans for half a dozen British-owned railways and tram lines. Transport Minister Edmundo de Macedo Scares, back from. Washington, claimed promise of a $50,000,000 credit for new equipment and highways.

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