美企欲建华盛顿至纽约磁悬浮铁路

2014-11-06 18:50:42来源：网络

　　WASHINGTON — A group of Washington investorswith high-level political backing and a $5 billioncommitment from the Japanese government ispressing ahead with its vision of a high-speed trainthat could whisk passengers between New York andWashington in about an hour.

　　华盛顿——一群拥有高层政治背景并已赢得日本政府出资50亿美元(约合300亿元人民币)保证的华盛顿投资者正在着手推进他们心中构想的高速列车建设，力图将纽约和华盛顿之间的客运时长缩短到大约一小时。

　　The train, which uses a technology called magnetic levitation, or maglev, to float above thetrack on magnets instead of wheels, would travel at twice the speed of Amtrak’s Acela. It isone of several high-speed rail projects proposed for the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor,where chronic traffic congestion and flight delays are expected to get worse.

　　这种列车使用一种名为“磁悬浮”的技术，借助磁力悬浮在轨道上，而非使用车轮。它的行驶速度将达到美铁(Amtrak)阿西乐列车(Acela)的两倍。为了给交通繁忙的东北走廊分担压力，目前出现了数个高速铁路项目的提议，而磁悬浮计划是其中之一。据预计，东北走廊长期的交通拥堵和航班延误现象将进一步恶化。

　　At a total estimated cost of $100 billion, critics say a maglev train on the East Coast is littlemore than a pipe dream. But that has not stopped the investors from pushing the project.

　　鉴于估算的总花费为1000亿美元，批评人士表示，在东海岸建造磁悬浮列车不过是痴人说梦。不过，这未能阻止投资者去推动这个项目。

　　On a test track in Japan on Tuesday, a prototype train whooshed a group of visitingAmericans through mountains at a top speed of 314 miles per hour — so fast, in fact, thatChristie Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and one of the Americans on the ride,said trips on Amtrak between Washington and New York were “embarrassing” by comparison.

　　周二，一列原型车在日本的测试轨道上，以314英里(约合505公里)的最高时速载着一群美国客人飞速穿越群山——速度非常之快，以致于此次测试的美国乘客之一、新泽西州前州长克里斯蒂·托德·惠特曼(ChristieTodd Whitman)禁不住感叹，相比之下，乘美铁列车往返华盛顿和纽约有些“令人难堪”。

　　To Ms. Whitman, the train is a solution to transportation problems back home, where theAcela — the fastest train in the United States — takes 2 hours 45 minutes to travel betweenNew York and Washington.

　　在惠特曼看来，这种火车可以解决美国国内的交通问题。在美国，乘坐阿西乐——美国最快的列车——往返纽约和华盛顿，单程需要2小时45分钟。

　　Ms. Whitman is part of a high-powered advisory board for the Northeast Maglev, a privateWashington-based company with a goal of building the Washington-to-New York line. Thegroup, which regularly visits Japan to pursue the project and has taken at least three test rideson the train, is trying to convince skeptical American policy makers and investors that themaglev makes financial and political sense.

　　惠特曼是东北磁悬浮公司(Northeast Maglev)一个充满权势人物的顾问委员会的成员。这是一家设在华盛顿的私营企业，其目标是修建华盛顿至纽约的磁悬浮铁路。这群顾问经常前往日本推进项目，而且已至少三次试坐这种火车。他们试图使持怀疑态度的美国决策者和投资人相信，磁悬浮列车在经济和政治上都行得通。

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