高速铁路与动车组的外文翻译

附录A 外文翻译

High-speed Rail and Multiple Units

High-speed

High-speed rail is public transport by rail at speeds in excess of 200 km/h. Typically, high-speed trains travel at top service speeds of between 250 km/h and 300 km/h- The world speed record for a conventional wheeled train was set in 1990，by a French TGV (Train a Grande vitesse) that reached a speed of 513.5km/h，and an experimental Japanese magnetic levitation train has reached 581 km/h.

The International Union of Railway’high-speed task force provides definitions of high-speed rail travel. There is no single definition of the term, but rather a combination of elements—new or upgraded track, rolling stock, operating practices一that lead to high-speed rail operations. The speeds at which a train must travel to qualify as “high-speed”vary from country to country, ranging from 160 km/h to over 300 km/h.

There are constraints on the growth of the highway and air travel systems，widely cited as traffic congestion, or capacity limits. Airports have limited capacity to serve passengers during peak travel times, as do highways. High-speed rail，which has potentially very high capacity on its fixed4corridors，offers the promise of relieving congestion on the other systems. Prior to World War II, conventional passenger rail was the principal means of intercity transport. Passenger rail services have lost their primary role in transport, due to the small proportion of journeys made by rail.

High-speed rail has the advantage over automobiles in that it can move passengers at speeds far faster than those possible by car, while also avoiding congestion. For journeys that do not connect city centre to city centre，the door to door travel time and the total cost of high-speed rail can be comparable to that of driving. A fact often mentioned by critics of high-speed trains. However, supporters argue that journeys by train are less strenuous and more productive than car journeys.

While high-speed trains generally do not travel as fast as jet aircraft, they have advantages over air travel for relatively short distances. When traveling less than about 650 km, the process of checking in and going through security screening at airports, as well as the journey to the airport itself, makes the total journey time comparable to high-speed rail. Trains can be boarded more quickly in a central

location，eliminating the speed advantage of air travel. Rail lines also permit far greater capacity and frequency of service than what is possible with aircraft.

High-speed trains also have the advantage of being much more environmentally friendly, especially if the routes they serve are competing against clogged highways.

The early target areas，identified by France，Japan，and the U.S.，were connections between pairs of large cities. In France this was Paris-Lyon, in Japan Tokyo-Osaka, and in the U.S. the proposals are in high-density areas. The only high-speed rail service at present in the USA is in the Northeast Corridor between Boston, New York and Washington, D.C,；it uses tilting trains to achieve high speeds on existing tracks, since building new，straighter lines was not practical, given the amount of development on either side of the right of way.

Five years after construction began on the line，the first Japanese high-speed rail line opened on the eve of the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo, connecting the capital with Osaka. The first French high-speed rail line was opened in 1981，the French rail agency, planning starting in 1966 and construction in 1976. The opening ceremonies were significant events, being reported internationally, but not associated with a major showpiece such as a World’s Fair or Olympic Games.

Market segmentation has principally focused on the business travel market. The French focus on business travelers is reflected in the nature of their rail cars. Pleasure travel is a secondary market, though many of the French extensions connect with vacation beaches on the Atlantic and Mediterranean, as well as major amusement parks. Friday evenings are the peak time for TGVs. The system has lowered prices on long distance travel to compete more effectively with air services，and as a result some cities within an hour of Paris by TGV have become commuter communities, thus increasing the market, while restructuring land use, A side effect of the first high-speed rail lines in France was the opening up of previously isolated regions to fast economic development. Some newer high-speed lines have been planned primarily for this purpose.

Multiple Units

The term Multiple Unit or MU is used to describe a self-propelling train unit capable of coupling with other units of the same or similar type and still being controlled from one cab.1 The term is commonly used to denote passenger trainsets that consist of more than one carriage, but single self-propelling carriages, can be