2019年经济学人 英国铁路(1)

 

Britain

来源于《英国》版块

Railways

铁路

Getting back on track

回归正轨

Rising fares and falling punctuality are undermining¹ confidence in the rail-franchise system. What should replace it?

票价上涨和准点率下降正在削弱英国人对铁路特许经营体系的信心。应该用什么来代替它呢?

Many office serfs like to slip away early on Friday afternoons in the quiet summer months. So anger boiled over on August 9th when several rail lines were shut down following a power cut. Delays were so bad on lines going north from London that it was quicker for some commuters to trudge² home on foot. The snafu was the fault of the electricity industry rather than the train companies. But it added to the railways’ growing reputation for unreliability. With dreadful³ timing⁴, it was announced a few days later that fares would go up again next year, by 2.8%.

在宁静的夏季，许多上班族喜欢在周五下午早早地溜出去。因此，当8月9日几条铁路因断电而被迫关闭时，愤怒爆发了。从伦敦往北的线路延误严重，需要通勤的人走路回家都比等延误的车要快。这次混乱是电力行业的错，而不是铁路公司的错。但这加重了人们对于铁路公司不可靠的印象。发生这种糟糕事情几天后，铁路公司宣布明年票价将再次上涨2.8%。

Boris Johnson’s government is consumed⁵ by the task of getting Britain out of the European Union by October 31st. But before then it must also make two big decisions about the railways. The first is whether to go ahead with HS2, a high-speed line between London and the north. The second is how to fix the rest of the network. This autumn an official review by Keith Williams, a former British Airways⁶ boss, will consider how to reform the franchising⁷ system under which most lines operate. Mr Williams has already said the current set-up has “had its day” and talked of “revolution, not evolution”.

鲍里斯?约翰逊政府正忙于在10月31日前完成英国脱欧。但在此之前，英国政府还必须就铁路做出两项重大决定。首先是是否继续建设HS2高速铁路，这是一条连接伦敦和北部的高速铁路。第二个问题是如何修复铁路网的其余部分。今年秋天，英国航空公司前老板基思?威廉姆斯的一份官方评估报告将考虑如何改革大多数航空公司运营的特许经营体系。威廉姆斯已经表示，目前的格局“已经风光不再”，他谈到的是“革命，而不是进化”。

1 undermining   

在某物下挖洞或挖通道( undermine的现在分词 )； 侵蚀…的基础； 暗中破坏； 逐渐削弱

参考例句：

• Far from undermining this chivalry of age, the Chinese people have reinforced it. 对于老年人应受尊敬这一问题，中国人远非贬损它，而是强调它。
• The party is accused of undermining the secular state. 这个党被控损害土耳其的世俗性质。

2 trudge   

v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行

参考例句：

• It was a hard trudge up the hill.这趟上山是一次艰难的跋涉。
• The trudge through the forest will be tiresome.长途跋涉穿越森林会令人疲惫不堪。

3 dreadful   

adj.糟透了的，极端的，可怕的，令人畏惧的

参考例句：

• I cannot imagine what to do in this dreadful situation.我不能想像在这么糟的情况下该怎么办。
• I must apologize for the dreadful mistake I made.我为我所犯的严重错误深表歉意。

4 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

5 consumed   

v.消耗( consume的过去式和过去分词 )；烧毁；大吃；使充满（强烈的感情）

参考例句：

• Arguing about details consumed many hours of the committee's valuable time. 争论细节问题耗费了委员会数小时宝贵的时间。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The fire had consumed half the forest away before it was stopped. 大火在熄灭之前毁掉了树林的一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 AIRWAYS   

航空公司

参考例句：

• The giant jets that increasingly dominate the world's airways. 越来越称雄于世界航线的巨型喷气机。
• At one point the company bought from Nippon Airways a 727 jet. 有一次公司从日本航空公司买了一架727型喷气机。

7 franchising   

v.给…以特许权，出售特许权( franchise的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Franchising has costs as well as benefits for the economy. 对整个经济来说特许经销有利也有弊。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Franchising, a practice adaptable to small business, has increased greatly in recent years. 近年来适用于小企业的特许经销发展得很快。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件