《经济学人》双语：巨资基建——伦敦的新火车线

《经济学人》双语：巨资基建--伦敦的新火车线

文/Irene-自由英语之路

【本篇内容简述】

【Para1】引入：开头描写很文艺很形象。英国伦敦巨大的基建工程于2009年开工，本应于2018年完工，但目前要延期到2023年才完工。造假就从估计的148亿英镑（当时为230亿美元）上升到189亿英镑。

【Para2】铁路介绍：全长118公里，成本上升和超支情况严重。中心是两条21公里长的隧道，深度可达40米。每列火车可容纳1500名乘客。投入运营，伦敦市中心的铁路承载力将增加10%。

【Para3&4】困难和相关数据：主要是整合错综复杂的信号系统难，还有挖隧道和处理好考古学和摩天大楼的问题。包括无线电信号，消防，通风等系统。总共涉及1600多万个组件。生成了250000份质量保证文件，数十家承包商。

【Para5】铁路管理层：前管理层很糟糕，没有切实可行的计划，商业合同糟糕。新管理层团队做得更好，但仍有风险。

【Para6】结尾新问题：通勤者会来吗？到2031年，铁路出行将比之前预测的低18%。然而这些不重要，因为横贯铁路的设计寿命为120年，但它可以存活300年。

标题：

Crossrail

Light at the end of the tunnel

A grand infrastructure project nears completion—finally

横贯铁路

隧道尽头的灯光

一项宏大的基础设施项目终于接近完成

Crossrail, London’s new train line, is almost finished

But will the commuters come?

伦敦的新火车线横贯铁路即将完工

但是通勤者会来吗？

原文日期：2021年8月28日

Paragraph 1:

THE NEW Elizabeth Line section at Whitechapel station is austerely beautiful.

白教堂车站的新伊丽莎白铁路段非常漂亮。

Descend the escalator and sharp angles meld into sinuous curves; move towards the platform and the light shifts from cool to warm, the better to entice commuters speedily towards their trains.

下了自动扶梯，尖角变成了蜿蜒的曲线；朝站台走去，灯光由冷转暖，这样可以更好地吸引通勤者快速跑向火车。

A sleek new one hisses to a halt—and its doors fail to line up with those separating the platform from the rails.

一辆时髦的新车发出嘶嘶声停了下来，车门与将站台与栏杆隔开的车门没有对齐。

Construction started in 2009 and should have finished in 2018, but completion is now expected only in 2023. With each delay the price tag has risen, from an estimated ￡14.8bn ($23bn at the time) to ￡18.9bn.

工程于2009年开工，本应于2018年完工，但目前预计要到2023年才完工。每延迟一次，价格就从估计的148亿英镑（当时为230亿美元）上升到189亿英镑。

Paragraph 2:

Rising costs and overruns are hardly unheard of in ambitious infrastructure projects: costs for HS2, a high-speed rail link, have ballooned far more and it is now at risk of being scaled back.

在雄心勃勃的基础设施项目中，成本上升和超支几乎是闻所未闻的：高铁2号（HS2）的成本膨胀得更大，现在有被缩减的风险。

The challenges for Crossrail were different, but it too was highly ambitious. Measuring 118km end to end, it runs beneath London from Reading, a commuter town to the west, to Shenfield, an eastern suburb.

横贯铁路面临的挑战各不相同，但它也太雄心勃勃了。从伦敦西面的通勤小镇雷丁到东郊的申菲尔德，全长118公里。

At its heart are two 21km-long tunnels, at depths of up to 40m. Each train can accommodate 1,500 passengers, not far off double capacity on older lines, and the platforms are long enough to allow carriages to be added in future.

它的中心是两条21公里长的隧道，深度可达40米。每列火车可容纳1500名乘客，距离较老线路的两倍载客量不远，站台足够长，将来可以增加车厢。

Once it is fully operational, central London’s rail capacity will increase by 10%.

一旦全面投入运营，伦敦市中心的铁路承载力将增加10%。

Paragraph 3:

The main source of difficulties was not tunneling, as many had predicted before work started. That finished in 2015. The toughest challenge, says Mark Wild, the project’s boss, has been integrating a tangle of signaling systems.

困难的主要来源不是在于挖隧道，就像许多人在工程开工前所预测的那样—挖隧道难。然而这项工作在2015年就已经完成。该项目的负责人马克·怀尔德说，最困难的挑战是整合错综复杂的信号系统。

A modern interoperable one covers the whole line. Another, dating back to the 1950s with 1990s additions, covers above-ground sections that share older tracks with existing services.

一个现代化的可互操作系统覆盖了整个生产线。另一条可追溯到20世纪50年代，并在20世纪90年代新增，覆盖了与现有服务共享旧轨道的地面路段。

Finally, radio-signaling covers the underground sections. All need to work in harmony with other systems, from fire control to ventilation.

最后，无线电信号覆盖地下部分。从消防到通风，所有这些系统都需要与其他系统协调工作。

In total, these involve more than 16m components, some physical and others virtual, which have generated 250,000 quality-assurance documents and are supplied by dozens of contractors.

总共涉及1600多万个组件，其中一些是实体组件，另一些是虚拟组件，这些组件生成了250000份质量保证文件，由数十家承包商提供。

Paragraph 4:

Construction in the capital poses further difficulties. “London is both a mega-city and very old,” says Mr Wild. “You have to deal with archaeology and skyscrapers.”

首都的建设带来了进一步的困难。怀尔德说：“伦敦既是一个特大城市，也是一个非常古老的城市，你必须处理好考古学和摩天大楼的问题。”

The renovation and expansion of Whitechapel station had to be squeezed in round sections of the Tube that date from 1876. British safety regulations are also unusually stringent by international standards.

怀特查普车站的翻修和扩建不得不挤进1876年的圆管段。按照国际标准，英国的安全规定也异常严格。

Paragraph 5:

Crossrail’s former management failed to appreciate how complex all this would be.

横贯铁路的前管理层没有意识到这一切有多么复杂。

A government spending watchdog found in 2019 that it had “no realistic plan” to deliver the programme, had designed the commercial contracts poorly, and was unaware of how delays were mounting up.

2019年，一家政府支出监督机构发现，它“没有切实可行的计划”来实施该计划，商业合同设计得很糟糕，并且不知道延迟是如何增加的。

Recruitment also proved tough. A follow-up report last month concluded that the new team was doing better, but new risks are still being spotted.

事实证明，招聘工作也很艰难。上个月的一份后续报告得出结论，新管理层团队做得更好，但仍在发现有新的风险存在。

Paragraph 6:

As the end date comes into view, however, so does an awkward question: will the commuters come? Before the pandemic most of London’s rail network was over capacity at peak times.

然而，随着截止日期的临近，一个令人尴尬的问题也出现了：通勤者会来吗？在流感大流行之前，伦敦的大部分铁路网在高峰时期都已超负荷运行。

Yet the boom in working from home puts predictions about commuting into doubt. Transport for London’s central planning scenario is for rail travel to be 18% lower by 2031 than previously forecast.

然而，在家工作的热潮让人们对通勤的预测产生了怀疑。伦敦中央规划的交通设想是，到2031年，铁路出行将比之前预测的低18%。

The line’s managers brush off such worries. On the timescale of the Tube, says Mr Wild, the pandemic is a blip. Crossrail was designed to last 120 years, but he thinks it could survive for 300.

这条铁路线的管理者们对这种担忧置之不理。怀尔德先生说，在铁路的时间尺度上，新冠只是一个小插曲。横贯铁路的设计寿命为120年，但他认为它可以存活300年。

（恭喜读完本篇，英语阅读量592左右）

本文出自《The Economist》Britain版块，仅供个人学习交流使用，欢迎转发至朋友圈。

【重点词汇】（8个）

austerely/:s"tili/

adv. 严格地；简朴地

melt into

溶解成；消散在…中；因心软而…

hiss/hs/

v.发嘶嘶声; 发出嘘声

archaeology/ɑkildi/

n. 考古学

stringent/strndnt/

adj. 严格的；严厉的；紧缩的；短缺的

mount up

增长；上升

brush off

刷去；丢弃；脱落

blip/blp/a change in a process or situation, usually when it gets worse for a short time before it gets better; a temporary problem.

n. 变故；暂时性问题; 物体光点

【重点句子】（3个）

Rising costs and overruns are hardly unheard of in ambitious infrastructure projects.

在雄心勃勃的基础设施项目中，成本上升和超支几乎是闻所未闻的。

All need to work in harmony with other systems, from fire control to ventilation.

从消防到通风，所有这些系统都需要与其他系统协调工作。

The pandemic is a blip.

新冠只是一个小插曲。

【重点词根】（1+4个）

stringent＝string-拉 + -ent形容词后缀 拉紧的 严格的。

词根string- 源自拉丁语 stringere (过去分词 strictus) "to draw tight, press together." ＝tighten, 表示“拉紧”，如：

constrain/knstren/v. 强迫, 限制, 关押

restrain/rstren/v. 抑制, 阻止, 束缚

strainometer/strei"nmit/ n. 应变计, 张力计, 伸长计

strait/stret/n. 海峡, 困境adj. 困难的, 窘迫的, 狭窄的

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