2018.01.06期 p41
Train travel ——Off the rails 脱离火车
Part 1-Translation
Rising fares and poor service prompt more commuters to work from home
上涨的票价和糟糕的服务使得越来越多乘车上下班的人们在家工作
ALONG with 3m other workers, Eamonn, a civil servant, used to commute into London daily. It was once an easy jaunt of 30 minutes by train from Coulsdon South to Victoria. But after years of strikes and driver shortages at Southern Rail, the operator on that line, getting to work became alottery—atrain running on time felt like a “luxury for special occasionsonly,” he groans. With Southern cancelling up to 350 trains a day, in one three-week period last autumn he managed to get to the office on only two days. Eventually he moved to Liverpool to escape his awful commute.
埃蒙(Eamonn)是一名城市工作人员，和其他三百万人们一样，他过去每天乘车去伦敦。以前，乘火车从寇斯顿南部到维多利亚对他来说是个只需要30分钟的很容易的出行。但是，由于南方铁路公司多年的罢工和司机短缺，那条线上的司机（驾驶员）上班就像抽奖（上班毫无规律）——他哀叹到：“按点准时运行的火车就像仅仅只是特殊情况下的奢望”。有一天，由于/随着南方铁路公司取消了350趟列车，在去年秋天的一个为期三周的时间段里，他仅仅只有两天去了办公室。为了避免糟糕的交通，他最终搬到了利物浦。
Many other Londoners are changing the way they work because of the railways’ poor, pricey service. On January 2nd rail fares across Britain rose by an average of 3.4%, the largest increase since 2013. Over the past decade fares have risen twice as fast as salaries. Falling subsidies mean that passengers now pick up 70% of the rail network’s costs, up from 50% ten years ago.
因为昂贵又差劲的服务，许多伦敦人正在改变着他们的工作方式。1月2日，整个英国的火车票价平均增幅为3.4%，这是自2013年至今最严重的一次涨价。在过去的十年里，票价（火车票价）上涨的速度是工资的两倍（即，是工资上涨速度的两倍）。下降的补贴意味着乘客现在承担起了铁路网络系统成本的70%，（从十年前的50%增长到现在的70%）。
Until now, passengers have put up with it. Since the industry was privatised in the mid-1990s, the number of rail journeys in the south-east has soared by 130%, though fares have risen by 45% in real terms. But that seems to be changing.The year to April 2017 saw the first big drop in passenger numbers in the south-east outside a recession(seechart).
迄今为止，乘客们一直在忍受这一情况。自20世纪90年代中期铁路行业被私有化以来，虽然东南部地区的票价实际上已经上涨了45%，然而铁路旅行数量现已飙升至130%。但是这一情况似乎就要发生改变了。到2017年4月，在经济衰退区域之外的东南部地区出现了第一次乘客人数大跌落（如图所示）。
Many rail executives blame a Brexit-induced slow down for falling traffic. But that doesn’t explain why the drop-off has been highest in the south-east. Indeed, since the referendum in June 2016, output in London has grown faster than in any other British region and employment has risen.
许多铁路主管们责怪由英国脱欧导致的交通衰落的变慢（真的是这个意思吗？）。但是这并不能解释为什么东南部地区下降程度最大。自从2016年6月公投以来，伦敦的输出量的增长速度已经超过了英国的其他任何地区，并且其就业率也上涨了。
More likely it is high fares and unreliable service that are persuading commuters to change how they work,says Stephen Joseph of the Campaign for Better Transport, a pressure group. In the six months to September, journeys made on season tickets—which save money for daily commuters—fell by a tenth, while journeys made using single-use tickets continued to rise. The trend is strongest in the south-east, where fares are highest and services heavily disrupted. With more part-timejobs and technology that lets people work from home, going to the office everyday is falling out of fashion. Employers, facing high rents,are keen to encourage this. The amount of space per employee in the City of London has fallen from 17 square metres (183 square feet) in the 1990s to just11 now.
压力集团的Better Transport项目成员Stephen Joseph说：很可能是因为价格高昂且靠不住的服务导致了乘客们改变他们的工作方式。在九月份之前的六个月里（“截止到九月份为止的六个月里” 到底哪个对？），本来通过为乘客省钱的季票来获利的运输业缩减了十分之一，而同时，以一次性车票获利的运输业却在不断崛起。这一趋势在票价最昂贵且服务很差的东南部地区最为明显。随着越来越多的能使人们在家就能工作的兼职和技术的出现，每天去公司上班的方式正在日益过时。而由于租金昂贵，雇主们非常乐意和赞成这一方式。伦敦雇主们（所需的）占地面积从20世纪90年代的17平方米（183平方英尺）/人降低至现如今的11平方米。
The fall in passenger numbers creates a financial headache for ministers. Train operating companies can claim compensation if they undershoot revenue forecasts. So “one way or another” the government will take the hit, says Gerald Khoo, a rail analyst at Liberum, a bank. On December 29th Lord Adonisresigned as chairman of the National Infrastructure
Commissionand called for the transport secretary, ChrisGrayling, to quit for “bailing out” private rail operators, which he denies.
乘客数量的减少在金融方面给运输部带来了麻烦。如果无法达到预期收益，火车运营公司可以要求赔偿。因此，在Liberum的一名铁路银行分析师Gerald Khoo说，“无论如何”，政府都将承担损失。Lord Adonis于12月29日辞去了国家基础设施保护委员会主席之职，并且要求交通运输部长Chris Grayling放弃“保护”私营铁路运营商——这一策略是他所拒绝的。
If the government ends up forking outmore for the everyday running of the railways, its investment plans may be dented. Track-electrification schemes could be further scaled back.Transport for London,which runs the Tube, has shelved upgrades to the Jubilee and Northern lines, following falling ticket sales.
如果政府停止为维护铁路的日常运营而投入的更多资金，那么其投资计划将会受影响。轨道电气化方案也会进一步缩水。随着售票业的衰落，操控着整个运输网络的伦敦运输业朝着the Jubilee
and Northern lines进行升级（的目标）已经被搁浅。
The government is considering limiting fare increases more strictly in the future. That would cut train operators’ revenue further. Mr Joseph suggests that moving to a simpler fare structure, with season tickets for part-time commuters, could lure more people back onto trains, as such schemes have else where in Europe. Londoners may not be willing to wait. As Eamonn notes, in Liverpool getting to work costs only £15 ($20) a week—and even on strike days the trains get him to work ontime.
政府目前正在考虑在不久的将来，要进一步限制票价上涨。这将会进一步减少司机的收入。Joseph先生建议改成一个更为简单的收费机制，即，对于兼职的出行者实行季票制，这将会吸引更多人重新乘坐火车，像这样的支付在欧洲到处都是。伦敦人或许已经亟不可待了。正如Eamonn所指出的，在利物浦上班每周只需要花费20美元（路费）——并且即使是在罢工日，火车照样能准时载他上班。
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