start operation/start operating

[jiaruchan]

My cousin called me yesterday to ask which to choose between:

The train started operation in 1998.
& The train started operating in 1998.

I told him it should be the first one. Today he called me back saying his teacher said 'started operating ' was the correct choice.

What do you think of it? Thank you.

[euncu]

***neither a teacher nor a native-speaker***

The train started operation in 1998.Period

The train started operating in 1998 was one of the fastest trains at that time.

[jiaruchan]

***neither a teacher nor a native-speaker***

The train started operation in 1998.Period

The train started operating in 1998 was one of the fastest trains at that time.

It sounds you choose as I chose.

However, the second one you've revised a bit seems to use [start] 's past participle to modify [the train] to make the part The train started operating in 1998 subject of the sentence. Am I understanding it correctly?

[euncu]

I'm really bad when it comes to grammar terms, but at least I know what subject is. :)
And, yes, the part you colored acts as the subject (but as I mentioned before, I can't say what a grammarian would call it)