经济学人:纽约交通 铁路线影响经济(1)

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　　Transport in New York: On the Wrong Track 纽约的交通：歧途

　　Local railways are in bad shape - threatening the regions economy. 纽约铁路线不规范——地方经济将受影响。

　　On March 24th an Amtrak train derailed in New York's Penn station, hitting a regional commuter¹-line train. 3月24日，美铁一辆火车在纽约佩恩火车站脱轨，撞上了当地通勤线上的一辆火车。

　　The resulting delay affected² 250,000 passengers on the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) and New Jersey³ Transit⁴,  结果导致长岛铁路和新泽西公交公司上的25万名乘客滞留车站，

　　commuter lines which share Amtrak's tunnels and tracks in and around Penn Station. 而在佩恩站周边的这条通勤线是美铁隧道和轨道共用着。

　　Ten days later another Amtrak train derailed, this time taking out a set of points and eight of Penn station's 21 tracks. 10天后，美铁又有火车脱轨，这次脱轨带来了一系列的问题，让佩恩站的8辆火车都受到了影响。

　　The delays and cancellations lasted a week. 因为这次事件，这条通勤线的运行停止了一周。

　　Then on April 14th, just as the Easter weekend began, a New Jersey Transit train got stuck for three hours in an approach tunnel. 接着在4月14日，就是在复活节周末开始的时候，新泽西公交公司的一辆火车又在隧道里被困了3个小时。

　　This caused long delays on the Northeast Corridor (NEC) the busiest passenger railway line in the country. 这使得国内东北走廊最繁忙的客运专线长时间堵塞。

　　On the same day a false report of gunfire at Penn triggered a stampede in which 16 were hurt. 同一天内，有关佩恩站的错误枪击报告引发了一场骚乱，导致16人受伤。

　　New York's tabloids⁵ now call America's dingy⁶, claustrophobic and busiest railway terminus “Pain Station”. 因此，纽约小报现在把这个肮脏的、封闭而最繁忙的火车总站称为是“疼痛站”。

　　The station's 600,000 daily users will soon feel more pain. 然而这座车站的日均60万乘客们在此之后还得面对更多麻烦。

　　Amtrak, which owns and operates the station, tracks and tunnels, said last month that it will need to shut down tracks to do repairs. 车站铁轨及隧道的运营公司Amtrak（美国国家铁路客运公司）上个月有说到将暂时停止铁轨运行，以进行检修。

　　These will take place over 44 days, mainly weekdays, in the summer. 这项工程预计耗时超过44天，而且大多数都是夏季的工作日进行。

　　The Partnership⁷ for New York City, which represents large companies, estimates that every hour of delay to commuters from Long Island and New Jersey costs Manhattan employers $14.5m. 代表着大公司利益的纽约是合作中心估计，从长岛到新泽西的员工每延误或滞留一个小时，就将给曼哈顿的老板们造成1450万美元的损失。

　　The Northeast Corridor Commission, created by Congress, estimates that every day the NEC is out of service costs $100m in lost economic activity. 由国会组建的东北走廊委员会估计，纽约每停工一天，各项经济活动损失将达到1亿美元。

　　Yet repairs are badly needed. 然而，检修问题确实是亟待解决的。

　　The two tunnels under the Hudson river, which serve the station and the main NEC arteries⁸, are a century old and move with the tides. 哈德逊河(Hudson)下的两条隧道服务于车站和东北走廊(NEC)客运要道，长达百年之久且随潮汐而动。

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