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Metal thieves in Germany
德國偷金屬的賊
Stealing steel
金屬竊賊偷竊鋼材
Why the trains are late
火車晚點的原因
In the wee hours of a recent morning a young man with a rucksack was sauntering along the railway line near Grossbeeren. When stopped by two policemen he told them he had missed his train. Being of a suspicious nature, they asked him to open his rucksack. And, behold, they found clippers,gloves, a torch and 24kg (53lbs) of copper cable. “Ah,” said the young man,“you seem to have caught me.”
最近一個早上，一名青年男子身背帆布包，在凌晨時分沿著大貝倫附近的鐵路線鬼祟前行。在被兩名巡警攔下時，他告訴警察自己沒趕上火車。秉著警察多疑的職業(yè)直覺，他們要求男子打開帆布包。您瞧！警察在包里發(fā)現(xiàn)了剪刀，手套，手電，還有重達24千克（53磅）的銅電纜。“啊哦，看來我被你們抓到了。”年輕人說。
Such incidents happen almost daily somewhere along Deutsche Bahn’s 33,500km (21,000 miles) of track. And the thieves are not always unambitious amateurs. Last month some rather more organised criminals lifted 2km of copper wire and cable between Hanover and Hamburg. The line had to be closed for eight hours and 100 trains had to be diverted. The cost hits not only Deutsche Bahn’s bottom line but also its tattered reputation.
在德國聯(lián)邦鐵路33,500千米（21，000英里）的軌道沿線上，這類事件幾乎每天都會上演。但小偷們不總是這么胸無大志，手法業(yè)余。上月，一些更有組織的罪犯團伙盜走了漢諾威到漢堡路段間2千米的銅絲和銅電纜，該路段不得不關閉8小時，100列火車被迫作出調整。該事件不僅令聯(lián)邦鐵路公司蒙受巨大損失，還損害了公司本已不佳的聲譽。
Last year was a good one for metal thievery (in Germanyand beyond) because the copper price was so high. Robbers were getting 6 ($7) a kilo. Deutsche Bahn suffered more than 3,000 thefts affecting 11,000 trains and causing 150,000 minutes of delays. Most of the booty is shipped to neighbouring countries. But the odds of being caught are about one in five. And there are plans to collar even more coppersnatchers.
去年對德國境內以及周邊國家的金屬小偷們而言是個好年頭，因為銅價高居不下，盜賊們偷來的銅制品能賣到每公斤6歐元（7美元）。聯(lián)邦鐵路公司共遭受盜竊事件3,000余起，導致11,000列火車受到影響，造成延誤共計150,000分鐘。大部分贓物被運往德國周邊國家。可是被抓住的幾率約為五分之一。政府現(xiàn)已制定抓捕計劃，欲緝拿更多的盜銅賊歸案。
On July 10th Deutsche Bahn and fellow sufferers Deutsche Telekom and RWE, an electricity company, announced an alliance with the Association of German Metal Traders (VDM). They are taking steps to make it harder to unload the loot from railways, telephone wires and power lines.
今年7月10日，德國聯(lián)邦鐵路攜手難兄難弟——德國電信，以及電力公司萊茵集團——宣布與德國金屬交易協(xié)會（VDM）結盟。他們將采取措施，使小偷更難脫手從鐵路，電話線，輸電線上偷得的贓物。
Since last year Deutsche Bahn has been spraying its cables with “l(fā)iquid DNA”. Tiny metal DB logos and numbers that cling to the kitand to felons’ tools and fingers, show up under ultraviolet scanners, revealing not only that the goods are hot but also which bit of track they come from.
自去年開始，德國聯(lián)邦鐵路開始向自家電纜上噴灑“液體DNA”。在行竊時，電纜中微小的金屬DB標志以及號碼會附著在工具箱、作案工具以及罪犯的指頭上。在紫外線掃描儀的掃描下，金屬標志顯現(xiàn)出來，既能表明該貨物剛剛被盜，又能揭示遭竊的鐵路段。
Problem solved? Not quite. There is still the question of communication across European borders, though Ralf Schmitz of the VDM reckons his bush telegraph will alert traders in German-speaking countries to a new heist within an hour of its discovery. Maybe so, but amazing numbers of trucks laden with copper contraband still seem to rumble unchallenged across Schengen frontiers to lands where German is not spoken.
問題就此迎刃而解？并不完全如此。歐洲各邊境間的溝通依舊是個問題，盡管VDM的拉爾夫·施密茨認為，協(xié)會的消息傳播系統(tǒng)可以在新盜竊案案發(fā)一小時內，通知德語國家的交易商們提高警惕，這或切實可行。但是，大量滿載違禁銅品的貨車似乎正暢通無阻的隆隆地越過申根邊界，駛向非德語國度。
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