Tracking slower追踪高铁减速

　　A showcase line, but throttling back

　　一条示范航线，但是开始缩水

　　Jun 30th 2011 | SHANGHAI | from the print edition

　　THE heart of China’s national railway policy has been the pursuit of speed. And having built the world’s longest high-speed network from scratch, this week the country proudly launched its showcase project, the 1,318km (820-mile) Beijing-Shanghai line. Running at speeds of over 300km an hour, the sleek electric train cuts the travel time between China’s two most important cities by nearly half, to four hours and 48 minutes.

　　中国国有铁路政策的核心就是追求高速。并且白手起家建起了世界上最长的高速铁路网，这周中国骄傲的宣布，这条起示范作用的的全长1318km（820英里）的京沪高铁开始运行。运行时速达到300km，这辆流线型的电车把中国最重要的两个城市的交通时间缩短了将近一半，降至4小时48分钟。

　　The service is designed as a rival to air travel. Indeed, at Beijing South station, the ultra-modern facility resembles an airport. The other terminus, meanwhile, actually is at Shanghai’s domestic airport. But that means travellers lose the benefit of a downtown arrival, often touted as an advantage of trains. Even on intermediate stops, stations are far from urban centres.

　　这条铁路服务是为和航空竞争而设计的。在北京南站，这个超现代化的车站有点像飞机场。同时，另一个终点站实际上是在上海国内机场。这就意味着乘客失去了在市区下车的便利，这常常是用来夸耀的火车的优势。甚至在中间的站点，车站也离着市中心很远。

　　Travel time might have been shorter still, but for controversy over the train’s speed. Journeys of 350km an hour had been promised. Then a system-wide slowdown to around 300km an hour was announced. At the time, the government insisted this was to save energy. It strenuously denied that safety was a factor, despite concerns from Chinese and foreign engineers. But now an official at China’s Railway Electrification Bureau admits the slowdown was based on concerns over safety after all.

　　运行的时间本应该更短的，但是经过对车速的辩论后有所下降。本来的承诺是运行时速350km。接着宣布一系统范围内的减速至300km。在那时，政府坚持这是为了节省能源，极力否认这是由于安全的原因，尽管国内外的工程师对安全问题非常担心。但是现在中国铁道电气部以为官员终究还是出来承认减速的原因是基于对安全的考虑。

　　The Beijing-Shanghai line took only three years to build. With a price tag of $34 billion, it may never recoup its costs. Still, better connections could bring more productivity gains to China than in more developed countries. Ying Jin at Cambridge University says high-speed rail could foster development away from China’s megacities.

　　京沪高铁的建设只用了三年时间。花费340亿美元，这成本可能是永远都回收不回来的。但是，更加便利的交通给中国带来了更大的生产力，这可能要远远多于发达国家所能给予的。剑桥大学营晋（音译）声称高铁将会促进中国特大城市以外城市的发展。

　　Meanwhile, for those who find the line’s suburban stations inconvenient, Mr Ying says, people need only be patient. With urbanisation in China roaring ahead, it is only a matter of time before the cities pull up at the stations, rather than the other way around.

　　同时，对于那些认为高铁站点在郊区会带来不便的观点，营先生说，民众对此应保持耐心，中国的城市化进程蓬勃发展，城市化肯定会推进到这些站点所在地，而不是其它地方，这不过只是给时间问题。