2019年经济学人 英国铁路(3)

 

Supporters of nationalisation compare Britain’s railways unfavourably with those in other European countries, where the state plays a more active role. Yet, perhaps surprisingly, many countries on the continent see the British model as one to copy. EU rules that came into force in June require state-owned rail firms to open their tracks to rivals and legally separate the management of track and train, as in Britain. And although British rail-users are fed up, those elsewhere are crosser still. Only five EU countries have happier passengers (and most of them are in countries without many railway lines).

国有化的支持者将英国的铁路与其他欧洲国家的铁路进行了不利的比较，因为在其他欧洲国家，政府扮演着更为积极的角色。然而，或许令人惊讶的是，欧洲大陆上的许多国家都将英国模式视为可以效仿的对象。今年6月生效的欧盟规定，要求国有铁路公司向竞争对手开放轨道，并像英国一样，在法律上将轨道和火车的管理分开。英国的铁路用户已经受够了，但其他地方的用户却更加愤怒。只有5个欧盟国家的乘客感到幸福(而且大多数都在没有很多铁路线的国家)。

Britons may scoff¹ at the idea that they have anything to teach the world about railways. But they do. Passenger numbers have risen by almost 120% since privatisation, twice the increase in the next-best big country, Spain. This may be because other forms of transport have become more wretched: driving has got pricier, for instance. Yet anti-car policies have gone further in other countries, without an equivalent rail boom. Meanwhile, Britain has gone from having one of the most accident- prone² railways in Europe to running its safest.

英国人可能会嘲笑他们在铁路方面有什么可以教给世界的。但他们确实有。自私有化以来，乘客人数增长了近120%，是排名第二的大国西班牙的两倍。这可能是因为其他形式的交通工具变得更加糟糕：例如，驾驶变得更加昂贵。虽然其它国家没有出现类似的铁路繁荣，但汽车限制政策反而发展地更好。与此同时，英国已经从欧洲最容易发生事故的铁路之一，变成了运营最安全的铁路之一。

Average British fares are by some way the highest in Europe. But European passengers pay less for their tickets mainly because they pay more through taxation³. In France and Germany, taxpayers⁴ cover almost half the cost of train tickets, whereas the fares Britons pay fully⁵ cover the trains’ operating costs. Any argument for increasing subsidies⁶ must reckon with the fact that rail-users are, on average, a richer bunch than those who use other forms of transport, such as buses.

英国的平均票价在某种程度上位列欧洲最高。但欧洲乘客的机票价格较低，主要是因为他们通过税收支付的更多。在法国和德国，纳税人支付了近一半的火车票费用，而英国人支付的票价完全覆盖了火车的运营成本。任何增加补贴的理由都必须考虑到这样一个事实：平均而言，铁路用户比那些使用其他交通工具(如公交车)的人更富有。

1 scoff   

n.嘲笑，笑柄，愚弄；v.嘲笑，嘲弄，愚弄，狼吞虎咽

参考例句：

• You are not supposed to scoff at religion.你不该嘲弄宗教。
• He was the scoff of the town.他成为全城的笑柄。

2 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

3 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

4 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》