来源：《卫报》
刊登日期：2021年2月2日
The German band Kraftwerk understood perfectly the special pleasures of cross-border train travel. The spare lyrics to their 1977 classic Trans-Europe Express celebrated the excitements that come with being stylishly on the move: “Leave Paris in the morning with T-E-E. In Vienna we sit in a late-night cafe. Straight connection T-E-E.”
德国乐队Kraftwerk非常理解跨境火车旅行的特殊乐趣。1977年，他们的经典歌曲《穿越欧洲的快车》用简短的歌词歌颂了时髦的出行带来的兴奋：“早上乘着T-E-E离开巴黎。在维也纳，我们坐在一家深夜咖啡馆里。不用换乘的T-E-E。”
The Trans Europe Express stopped running in 1995. Scores of other international rail links have gone the same way, priced out of the market by low-cost air travel. There is no longer, for example, a direct train route between Paris and Berlin. To travel the 600km between Madrid and Lisbon requires three changes and can take 11 hours. In Britain, the possibilities provided by the Channel tunnel have been underexplored for the same reason: rock-bottom short-haul air fares have turned continental rail travel into an eccentric and expensive pleasure for romantics with deep pockets.
欧洲快车于1995年停止运行。其他许多国际铁路线路也经历了同样的命运，被廉价的航空旅行挤出了市场。例如，巴黎和柏林之间不再有直达的火车路线。从马德里到里斯本的600公里路程需要换乘3次，可能耗时11个钟头。在英国，由于同样的原因，英吉利海峡隧道提供的各种可能性也没有得到充分的利用:最低的短途机票价格已经把大陆铁路旅行变成了富有的浪漫主义者的一种古怪而昂贵的乐趣。
However, a route back to the glory days may have opened up. The European commission has declared 2021 the European Year of Rail, hoping trains can help the EU achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. A revival of the Trans Europe Express – which in its peak connected 130 European cities – is being proposed to raise the number of Europeans making journeys by train from the current low level of 8%.
然而，一条通往昔日辉煌的道路可能已经打开。欧盟委员会宣布2021年为“欧洲铁路年”，希望火车能帮助欧盟在2050年前实现碳中性。欧洲快车在高峰时期连接了130个欧洲城市，为了提高欧洲乘火车出行的人数（目前仅为8%），复兴欧洲快车正被提上日程。
The environmental argument for getting more people off the roads, out of planes and into trains is unanswerable. Before the pandemic destroyed demand, more than 3,000 people flew every day between Paris and Berlin. Each flight produces six times the carbon emissions of an equivalent train journey. According to a recent study, 17 of the 20 most frequently used air routes in Europe cover distances of less than 700km. Such travel habits are unsustainable. Happily, this seems to be becoming a mainstream view; a recent survey found that almost three-quarters of travellers planned to use trains more for short-haul travel in the future.
让更多的人离开公路，离开飞机，坐上火车的环保论调是无可辩驳的。在新冠大流行摧毁航空业之前，每天有超过3000人乘坐飞机往返于巴黎和柏林之间。每趟航班产生的碳排放量是同等火车旅程的六倍。根据最近的一项研究，在欧洲最繁忙的20条航线中，有17条航线的航程不到700公里。这样的旅行习惯是不可持续的。幸运的是，这似乎正在成为主流观点；最近的一项调查发现，近四分之三的旅客计划在未来的短途旅行中更多地乘坐火车。
But if good intentions are to turn into real outcomes, the EU and national governments must provide meaningful subsidies and incentives to encourage a more affordable pan-European rail network. Many more direct routes are required, along with a simplified system that makes buying a train ticket from London to Barcelona straightforward. If prohibitive price can be overcome, the public appetite appears to be there. The success of a new generation of continental night trains has already established a promising precedent. In Britain, with the right level of ambition and imagination, night trains to European destinations could become a genuine alternative to flying.
但是，如果良好的意愿要转化为真正的成果，欧盟和各成员国政府必须提供有意义的补贴和激励措施，以鼓励建立一个更廉价的泛欧铁路网。需要更多的直达路线，以及一个简化的票务系统，能让购买从伦敦到巴塞罗那的火车票变得简单。如果能够克服令人望而却步的价格，公众的乘坐欲望似乎是存在的。新一代欧洲大陆夜车的成功已经树立了一个很有希望的先例。在英国，只要有足够的雄心和想象力，前往欧洲的夜车将成为真正替代飞行的交通工具。
The Trans Europe Express, launched in 1957, was an elite mode of transport, offering a first-class-only service. Its 21st-century equivalents, if they are to help shape a greener future, will need to be more accessible and a little less fashionable. But the contemplative pleasures of cruising through towns and landscapes never seen before, while sipping a glass of wine, or drinking a beer, should not be the preserve of the well-heeled. Europe’s Year of Rail is a move in the right direction. The task now is to shape the market to get people on board.
1957年推出的“欧洲快车”是一种上流社会交通方式，只提供头等服务。如果火车要帮助塑造一个更绿色的未来，那么21世纪的同类产品就需要更平易近人，少一些时尚。但是，在从未见过的城镇和风景中穿行，一边啜杯葡萄酒或喝杯啤酒，一边冥想的乐趣，不应该是富人的专属。欧洲铁路年是朝着正确方向迈出的一步。现在的任务是塑造市场，让人们乘坐火车。