評論
打印
Transport in the north-east
東北部交通
Track changes
軌道變化
The north-east is being hobbled by lousy transport
交通不便，蹣跚而行的東北部
MOST advertisements on public transport attempt to sell something. Travellers on the London Underground, for example, sit under posters for dating websites, vitamin supplements and insurance policies. On the two-carriage train between Sunderland and Darlington in the north-east of England, only one advert catches the eye. It is from the rail company, apparently apologising for the state the train is in.
大多數公共交通上的廣告都試圖向乘客們售賣出什么東西。舉個例子，倫敦地鐵上的乘客，就坐在諸如交友網站，維他命補充劑，保險單等等宣傳海報的下面。在英國東北部往返于桑德蘭和達靈頓的二節火車里，僅有一種廣告占據了人們的視線，這個廣告來自于一家鐵路公司，很明顯是在為這火車所在的國家而道歉。
The north-east's railway network is creaking. Two or three-car “Pacers”—cheaply-made carriages based on old buses—judder along large parts of the network. It can take an hour and a half to get from Middlesbrough to Newcastle, a distance of only 40 miles. A train journey between Chelmsford in Essex and London, the same distance, takes 36 minutes. Trains from rich suburbs are less frequent and are often delayed. “You could walk faster,” complains David Budd, the deputy mayor of Middlesbrough.
東北部的鐵路網正在日益老化。兩或三節車廂的“步行者”—根據老巴士改造的廉價車廂—在大片的鐵路網上顫顫巍巍地運行著。從相距僅40英里的米德爾斯堡到紐卡斯爾大概要花一個半小時，而從同樣距離的艾塞克斯的切姆斯福德到倫敦，搭乘火車僅需36分鐘。從富裕郊區發出的列車班次更少，并且經常晚點。“走路還快一些。”米德爾斯堡的副市長大衛·巴德這樣抱怨道。
This is crippling labour mobility in England's poorest region. The north-east was long dependent on heavy industry and has struggled with deindustrialisation. Unemployment in Middlesbrough, at 15%, is twice the national average (see map). But because the north-east is so hard to get around, companies must recruit locally, says Paul Callaghan, chairman of the Leighton Group, a technology firm just outside Sunderland. The south-east's excellent transport links enable people to travel much more easily.
這給英格蘭最貧困地區的勞動力流動問題造成了嚴重后果。東北部長期依賴于重工業并在限制工業化中苦苦掙扎。米德爾斯堡的失業率高達15%，是國家平均值的兩倍（如圖）。但是正因為東北部交通非常不便，公司必須在本地招聘職員，保羅·卡拉翰如是認為，他是一家名為雷頓集團的技術公司的總裁，該公司位于桑德蘭附近。東南部卓越的交通運輸則讓人們的通行更加便利。
History is partly to blame. Newcastle aside, many towns in the north-east were self-contained and oriented around mines: few people needed to travel far. Railways mostly carried coal and steel, and when those industries declined they were cut back. Even new jobs were often isolated in suburban industrial parks. What little investment there was in transport tended to reinforce older north-south links rather than create new east-west ones.
歷史原因要為此窘境承擔一部分責任 。除了紐卡斯爾，東北部許多城市都自給自足，被礦山包圍：很少有人需要出遠門。鐵路大多被用來運輸煤和鋼鐵，當這些工業衰落后它們的運輸量也削減了。即使是新工作也僅局限在郊區工業園內。該地區有限的投資也是放在了加強南北交通樞紐上，而不是建造新的東西向線路。
Local government squabbling has not helped matters. “There's an antipathy between Newcastle and Sunderland—and not just about football,” says Ray Hudson of Durham University. In metropolitan Manchester, local authorities have ganged up to lobby for investment. The north-east has failed to present a united front. Partly as a result, public expenditure on transport infrastructure projects is ￡2,595 ($4,340) per head in London but only ￡5 in the north-east, according to IPPR North, a think-tank.
地方政府間的爭吵也不利于事態發展。“紐卡斯爾和桑德蘭間的互相反感并不僅限于足球。”杜倫大學的雷·哈德森說。在大都市曼徹斯特，地方政府們團結合作來爭取投資。而東北部并沒形成統一戰線。這在一定程度上造成了如下結果：根據著名智庫北方公共政策研究所（IPPR）的研究，在交通基本建設工程上，倫敦的市政開支是平均每人2,595英鎊 (4,340美元)，而在東北部平均每人僅5英鎊。
Britain's proposed high-speed railway will not help much, and not for a long time. Under current plans HS2 will take until 2033 to reach the north-east, some seven years after it stretches to the West Midlands. Even then many are worried: Edward Twiddy, leader of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, fears that journeys to Leeds in Yorkshire will become longer and that investment will be drawn away from the East Coast mainline.
英國所提議的高速鐵路不會有太大幫助，也不是長久之計。在現有的計劃下，HS2高速鐵路項目直到2033年才能建設到東北部，比到達西米德蘭茲郡要晚約七年。即使到那時候，人們還是憂心忡忡：東北地方企業合作團的領導人愛德華·圖迪擔心去約克郡利茲市的路程將會更漫長，東海岸沿線的投資也將會被撤走。
Smaller, incremental projects would help more. Railway tracks are being electrified in the north-west, but only as far as York. Unless parts of the north-east are electrified too, areas like Middlesbrough risk being cut off even more than at present. Better rolling-stock would get more people on trains. If another platform were added to Darlington station—a pretty, if sparse, Victorian structure—then congestion on the line to London would be reduced, as local and freight services would no longer need to cross the main tracks.
規模小一些，逐漸遞進的項目幫助會更大。西北部的鐵路正在實現電氣化，但最遠也只推行到了約克。除非部分東北部地區也實現電氣化，否則像米德爾斯堡這樣的地區將冒著比現在更與世隔絕的風險。更好的鐵路運行會帶來更多乘客。如果達靈頓車站能多設一個站臺—一個漂亮的，如果空間夠寬敞的話，維多利亞式的建筑，那么去往倫敦沿線的擁堵狀況將得到緩解，因為地方和貨運服務將沒必要再通過主要的鐵路干線。
Such projects are less exciting than a whizzy new railway. Government officials tend to glaze over when they are mentioned, says Ed Cox of IPPR North. A more integrated approach to transport planning would help. This is slowly starting to happen: from April 1st seven local authorities in the north-east will hive off some functions to a combined authority, similar to the set-up in Manchester. This should give the north-east a stronger voice. When two northern rail franchises come up for renewal in 2016 local authorities will play a larger part in the bidding process.
這樣的項目沒有建設一個新的高技術鐵路那樣激動人心。當這些項目被提及時，政府官員往往提不起半點興趣。北方公共政策研究所的愛德·科克斯如是說。更綜合一些的交通運輸計劃會有幫助。這正在慢慢地實現：從4月1日開始東北部的七個地方政府將會分離一部分職能來組成一個聯合機構，類似于曼徹斯特的組織。這將使東北部更具有發言權。當2016年兩個北方鐵路專營權更新時，當地政府在投標過程中的地位將更重要。
In many ways the region is lagging 20 years behind everywhere else, thinks Penny Marshall, the regional director of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the north-east. Though car ownership per head is low, it is catching up with the national average. The shabbiness of public transport is pushing people onto crowded roads. “It would be nice to get it right before it gets worse,” she says.
在很多方面該地區都比其它任何地方落后20年，佩妮·馬歇爾認為，她是土木工程師協會在東北地區的區域主管。盡管人均擁有的汽車數量低，但也正在趕上國家平均數目。公共交通的簡陋使得人們不得不涌入擁擠的道路。“如果能在情況變得更糟前讓它恢復正常就好了。“她說。譯者：王穎 校對：邵夏沁
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