外刊逐句精读｜《金融时报》：英国一条高铁竟然要修几十年？｜CATTI一级译员外刊

逐句翻译

1、Countries such as France, Germany or Spain with shiny and extensive high-speed rail networks may look with bafflement across the Channel(海峡对岸) to the agonies in Britain over building anything similar./ The originally solid case for the HS2 line, meant to whisk passengers from London to Manchester and Leeds via Birmingham, has become ever more precarious as the price tag has soared./ After being repeatedly delayed and hacked back, the project is in danger of death by a thousand cuts. 

诸如法国、德国或西班牙这些有着华丽且昂贵铁路线路的国家或许会对海峡对岸的英国关于建筑一类问题的痛苦困惑不解。

最初关于HS2线路运载乘客从伦敦通过伯明翰到利兹和曼彻斯特的可靠论据，在价格激增的同时也变得前所未有的动荡

在反复延期、多次被砍以后，修建项目现在面临着慢性死亡的危机

elusive a 难实现的 Success will become even more ~ elude vt 逃避，躲避

high-speed rail 高铁= bullet train

spiralling a 急剧上涨的 spiral vi急剧上涨，agonise over sth对某事非常焦虑

case n 理由，论据，be meant to do sth旨在做某事，whisk vt迅速带走，precarious a 不稳的

death by a thousand cuts =gradual decline or failure as the result of many minor mishaps

 

2、Cost estimates spiralling from £30bn a decade ago to as much as £100bn have forced the government to look for savings./ Much of the Y-shaped line’s eastern arm to Leeds was scrapped in late 2021. /A new, two-year delay to another section may mean the line does not reach Manchester until the 2040s./ Plans to bring HS2 to Euston in central London may now be completed only in 2041, with trains terminating till then several miles away in the west of the capital./ Some MPs suggest what remains of the project — at least beyond Birmingham, to where construction is well under way — should be axed./ Despite the costs and delays, that would be a mistake. /

成本估算从10年前的300亿英镑飙升到将近1000亿英镑，迫使政府寻求节约。

在2021末，Y字型的通往利兹方向的东支线路大部分被取消了。（而）通往另一边区域的新线路要延期两年，这意味着可能要到20世纪40年代才能通往曼彻斯特。

将HS2带到伦敦中心的休斯顿站的计划或许只能在2041年完成，在此之前火车的终点都只能建在伦敦中心西边几英里远的地方

一些议员建议，这个项目余下部分，至少除伯明翰和正在修建的部分外，都应当被砍掉。

scrap vt取消 scrape vt刮除

MP =Member of Parliament议员

 

3、The focus on speed in marketing HS2 has led it to be seen, wrongly, as a vanity project. /In capacity terms, it is essential infrastructure./ 【Its origins】 lay in early-2000s forecasts of rail needs (跟forecastthat projected southern sections of the west coast London-Glasgow line would hit maximum capacity by the mid-2020s, and the east coast line to Edinburgh a few years later. ）/Though the pandemic has altered travel patterns, those forecasts are broadly set to be met. Widening existing lines is itself expensive and disruptive./ It was decided to build new high-speed routes to spread the load. /

对HS2速度的关注导致这条线路被误认为是面子工程。

从火车容量的角度来讲，（HS2）是至关重要的基础设施.

HS2的起源来自20世纪第一个十年关于对铁路的预测，这项预测认为从伦敦到格拉斯哥在西海岸的这条线将会在20世纪20年代中期达到容量顶峰，而（从伦敦）到爱丁堡在东海岸的这条线将会在几年后（也达峰）

尽管疫情改变了出行模式，那些预测也基本上会实现。

而拓宽现有线路本身就很昂贵且具破坏性，因此决定建立新路线以平摊负担。

vanity project 面子工程

be set to do sth准备好做某事

The talks are set to continue through the week. 谈判可能会持续一周。

disruptive a有破坏性的 disrupt vt.使...中断

spread v.平摊

 

4、Since commuter and freight trains share the existing main lines, shifting inter-city services to dedicated tracks allows many more to run, at much higher speeds, while more local and goods trains can use the old lines./ As HS2 will join the west coast line beyond the worst bottlenecks, faster and more frequent services can run through to northern England and Scotland./ That makes less carbon-intensive rail travel a more alluring alternative to flying./ And shifting freight from roads to rail is crucial to meet net zero targets, but impossible without space on the railways./

commuter train通勤火车，

freight n.货运，freight train货运火车

 inter-city a.城际的，城市之间的

dedicated a.专用的

alternative 替代品

net zero 净零排放

由于通勤列车和货运列车共用现存的线路，转移城际服务到既定线路就可以使更多列车、以更快的速度运行，与此同时更多本地列车（=通勤列车）和货运列车可以用老线路

随着HS2将会在瓶颈路段之后加入西海岸线，更快的、更频繁的服务将会直达北英格兰到苏格兰

这就会使碳密集型更低的铁路成为比飞机更具有吸引力的替代品

而且把货运列车从公路转到铁路上运行对于实现净零排放是至关重要的，但是若铁路上没有空间，这就是不可能实现的

5、HS2 should therefore be completed at least to Manchester./ While the government wants to tweak the Euston terminus design to save money, any delay in opening it should be kept to a minimum. /The north-east arm to Leeds had a less compelling logic but alternatives, such as a leg through Nottingham to York, could make sense. /Ministers should remember cost-benefit studies can underestimate the additional activity a well-designed project will generate. /Within eight months of opening last year — though delayed and over-budget — the cross-London Elizabeth Line was carrying 3mn passengers a week, 50 per cent more than expected, with little sign it was “cannibalising” Tube journeys. /

HS2应该至少修到曼彻斯特。

政府想要微调休斯顿终点站的设计以此省钱，（为了完成这个计划，所以）应该把任何延期举措减少到最少。

大臣们应当记住成本效益的研究可能会低估一个设计精良的项目能产生的额外活动

在去年横跨伦敦的伊丽莎白线剪彩后的八个月内，尽管也被延误和超出预算，伊丽莎白线每周可以承载3百万的乘客，超出了预算的50%，一点都没有抢地铁生意的迹象。

 tewak vt.调整，稍微改进；

terminus n.终点站 terminal n.航站楼 terminate vt.终止，停止

compelling a.令人信服的

cost-benefit a.成本效益的&n.成本效益

cannibalise vt.（同类型产品）抢走，夺走其他产品的销量

6、Project managers and the government must continue to look for savings. But these should come through redesign or re-engineering, not lopping off further bits of HS2 and undermining its rationale, or from postponements that reduce immediate outlays but push up the total end cost.

 项目经理和政府必须保持节省开支。但是这些节约的开支必须来自重新设计，或（），而不是通过砍掉HS2的其他部分和破坏它的底层逻辑，或从能减少当前支出但会提高最终成本的延期。

lop off 砍掉

rationale n.底层逻辑

immedidiate a.及时的；当前的 outlay n.经费

push up v.抬高

7、Lessons must be learnt, too, from the ballooning expenses and interminable planning and political approval processes. /Though Britain is much more densely populated, engineers note big rail projects are managed very differently in France, seemingly without compromising quality or safety. /The UK still needs HS2, and has no quick Plan B./ But the project’s handling to date is really no way to run a railway./

ballon vi.激增，interminable a.无休止的

compromise vt.（由于妥协）损害

to date 目前为止（up to now）

也必须要从激增的开销、无休止的计划和政治审批过程当中吸取教训。

尽管英国人口更稠密，工程师们仍指出，管理大型铁路项目的方式和在法国很不一样，（法国）似乎没有因为妥协而损害质量和安全保障

（目前来看）英国还是需要HS2并且没有备选方案可用，但到目前为止对项目的应付实在是没有能运行起一条铁路的样子