译者 卓士其
What the country needs is a more efficient network, not faster trains
这个国家需要的是更高效的铁路网络，而不是更快速的列车。
Jan 7th 2012 | HONG KONG | from the print edition
1月7日 2012|香港|印刷版
CHINA’S love affair with fast trains is gathering steam again. Undaunted by horrendous accidents and massive cost overruns, officials are planning further expansion of the country’s high-speed rail network. A new service has begun between the southern cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen, nearly halving the travel time to 35 minutes. With trains capable of travelling up to 380kph (236mph), the service will eventually be extended to nearby Hong Kong. For those craving even faster speeds, CSR Corp, China’s biggest trainmaker, has unveiled a supertrain (pictured above) said to be inspired by the shape of an ancient Chinese sword. It should slice through the air at 500kph.
中国对于高速列车的热衷再一次升温，没有被可怕的事故和巨大的成本超支吓到，官方仍在实施国家进一步的高速铁路网络扩张计划。一个新的项目已经在南方城市广州和深圳之间开始，这将使得两者间的行程时间缩短近一半到35分钟，届时列车将达到380公里/时（236英里/时）的行驶速度，高速列车建设将逐渐延伸到香港附近。 对于那些渴望更快速度的人来说，中国最大的列车制造商南车集团刚刚揭晓了一款超级高速列车，据说其设计灵感来源于中国古代一柄宝剑，它可以在空中以500公里/时的速度划过。
Supertrains are sexy. Politicians love to show them off. But to allow more Chinese people to get where they want to go at a reasonable price, then three less glamorous types of investment would yield better returns. China Rail, the state near-monopoly, is deficient in all three.
超级高速列车令人着迷，政客们也乐于炫耀。但是为了以一个合理的价格让更多的中国人到达他们想去的地方，那么有三个不那么吸引人的投资方式可以产生更好的回报。而目前，近乎国家垄断的中国铁路，在这三个方面存在缺陷。
The first is safety. Standards are patchy. In July a high-speed train crashed near Wenzhou, leaving 40 dead. Officials attempted a cover-up, prompting a wave of popular outrage on the Chinese internet; even the state-controlled media wailed that development had become “stained with blood”. The mood has lifted a little following the recent publication of a surprisingly harsh official report that finds fault with both the design of the railway and its management. It calls for more than 50 officials to be punished. Deeper reforms are required, however.
首先是安全。7月份一辆动车在温州附近坠毁（译者注：两列车发生追尾），造成至少40人死亡。官方曾试图掩盖，但这激起了网络上的一场轩然大波，甚至政府控制的媒体也恸诉这样的处理“沾满鲜血”。这种情绪推动人们关注起近期发布的政府事故报告，却惊讶地发现报告非常粗线条，同时发现了铁路设计和管理方面的漏洞。人们要求惩处50多名政府官员，而深层次的改革迫在眉睫。
The second neglected area is information technology. Chaos broke out this week when a new system for online ticket sales at China Rail became overwhelmed. The demand for tickets was completely predictable, as 2.8 billion rail journeys are expected during the Chinese New Year holidays later this month. But instead of enjoying a convenient alternative to queuing all night for paper tickets, as they have done in the past, customers were frustrated by hours wasted online trying to find out if they could actually get the tickets they thought they had paid for.
第二个被忽略的领域是信息技术。本周当中国铁道部的在线售票新系统流量超载时，混乱产生了；但是，火车票的需求量本是完全可以预测的，因为在本月末中国新年假日期间预计有28亿人次的铁路客流量。人们不但没有享受到网络购票取代以前整夜排队购票带来的便利，相反他们仍被困扰,因为要花费数小时在网络上来确定是否能够拿到票，而这些票他们认为是付了费的。
The third area is pricing. Fares have historically been tightly regulated and heavily subsidised. This began at a time when China Rail had a de facto monopoly not merely of rail but of inland transport in China. In those days, tight regulation was justified. But no longer, says a new paper by the World Bank. China’s roads are much better, and railways must compete with booming airlines, too.
第三个领域是定价。在历史上，车票价格曾受到严格管制，并有优厚的政府补贴。这种情况是从中国铁路形成自然垄断开始的，它不仅仅是铁路，而代表着中国内陆运输。在那些日子里，严格管制是合情合理的，但不会再持续，世界银行的一份报告如是说。中国的道路在变好，而铁路也必须面临繁荣的航空的竞争。
Average incomes in China have risen tenfold since the current pricing and subsidy regime was put in place in 1982. Liberalising fares would allow services to be tailored to meet customers’ needs. In Europe, for example, rail operators offer a wide range of fares and discounts for those who book in advance, travel at odd times or bundle the fare with a packaged holiday—much as airlines have long done.
在中国，自1982年施行了目前这样的定价机制和补贴政策，铁路运输平均收入上升有十倍。票价自由化将促使相应的服务根据旅客的需要量身定做。比如在欧洲，铁路运营会给那些提前预定车票的人提供区段票价以及折扣，以满足他们非固定的出行或者将一系列的假期车票打包出售，而这些措施航空业早已实施。
Poverty too could be better addressed by targeted subsidies, off-peak discounts and other measures. The evidence from rail liberalisation in North America and Europe suggests that such reforms could actually reduce fares. With a free hand, railways tend to squeeze more trips out of their trains, provide better service and make more money.
同时贫穷也可以通过设定特定的补贴、非高峰期折扣以及其它的措施得到更好的解决。北美和欧洲铁路自由化的证据表明，这样的改革能够实际性地降低票价，从而铁路部门有精力规划列车更多列次地运营，提供更好的服务，同时赚到更多的钱。
In short, China needs to rethink how it spends money on rail. That may happen. Although it did not receive the same attention as the supertrain, Sheng Guangzu, the railway minister, was recently quoted by China Daily, an official organ, as saying that there are now plans to slash the investment budget for railways to 400 billion yuan ($64 billion) in 2012—some 44% below the level in 2010. If that makes for a better rail network, then many Chinese will agree that speed is not everything.
简言之，中国需要重新思考如何在铁路上花钱。而上述情况是可能发生的，尽管它不像超级高速列车那样吸引注意力，《中国日报》援引铁道部部长盛光祖说，现在计划在2012年大幅削减铁路投资预算到4000亿元（约640亿美元）——大约相当于2010年的44%。如果这些措施可以创造一个更好的铁路网络系统，那么中国人就会接受速度不是一切。
from 译言-每日精品译文推荐 http://article.yeeyan.org/view/246328/244953
