来源：《每日电讯报》
原文刊登日期：2022年5月23日
Travellers on the London Underground will from today notice a new colour on the Tube map, a purple-bordered white line denoting the Crossrail link running from east to west through the capital. The Elizabeth Line, as it is officially known, has been decades in the planning and opens for business some four years behind schedule after 13 years of construction at a cost of £20 billion.
从今天开始，乘坐伦敦地铁的旅客将注意到地铁地图上出现了一种新的颜色，一条紫色边框的白线表示从东向西穿过伦敦的横贯铁路。正式名称为伊丽莎白线的这条线路规划了几十年，在耗资200亿英镑、建设了13年之后，比原定计划晚了4年才正式投入运营。
The link is yet to be completed, with connections to Reading still to open; but this engineering marvel passing through nine new stations is the first major innovation since the Jubilee Line extension opened in 1999.
这条线路还没有完成，与雷丁的连接还没有开通；但这个工程奇迹穿过9个新车站，是自1999年银禧线扩建通车以来的第一次重大创新。
It is a state-of-the-art transport link with one important proviso: the new Class 345 trains will be manned even though they are, in theory, able to operate automatically. This line was an opportunity for part of the network to go fully automated but this has been resisted, not least by the transport unions. The Elizabeth Line will have about 140 drivers and is a rejected chance to exploit new technology to the full.
这是一条最先进的交通线路，但有一个重要的限制条件：新的345级列车将有人驾驶，尽管理论上它们能够自动运行。这条线路为部分铁路网络实现完全自动化提供了机会，但遭到了抵制，尤其是遭到了交通工会的抵制。伊丽莎白线将有约140名司机，这个充分利用新技术的机会被浪费了。
Many passengers are doubtless relieved to know that there is a driver on board, even unnecessarily, and since the Elizabeth Line will eventually share the mainline infrastructure with other trains there are safety considerations that make the automated option hard to promote.
毫无疑问，许多乘客知道车上有司机时都会松一口气，即使司机是不必要的，而且由于伊丽莎白线最终将与其他列车共用铁路主干线基础设施，出于安全考虑，使得自动驾驶这个选项难以推动。
Yet the threat by transport unions to stage a complete shutdown of the railways next month is focusing attention on the future viability of train and metro networks across the UK. Among their demands is a 10 per cent pay rise for staff, hardly a surprising request with inflation approaching double figures. The problem for the unions, however, is that the Underground and mainline services are losing money as passenger numbers that collapsed during the pandemic fail to recover.
然而，交通工会威胁下个月全面关闭铁路，这让人们将注意力集中在英国铁路和地铁网络未来能否运营下去的问题。他们的要求包括员工加薪10%，在通胀率接近两位数的情况下，这并不令人意外。然而，工会面临的问题是，由于大流行期间大量减少的乘客数量未能恢复，地铁和铁路干线服务正在亏损。
Until a few years ago, the railways were booming with the highest usage since the 1920s, but that has all been reversed by the economic shutdown. With many commuters no longer working in the office full-time, the financial impact has been considerable. Transport for London is effectively bust and some Tube links face being closed for days at a time to ameliorate the funding crisis.
直到几年前，铁路还在蓬勃发展，客流量达到了20世纪20年代以来的最高水平，但这一切都因经济关闭而逆转。由于许多通勤者不再全职在办公室工作，对铁路系统财务方面的影响是相当大的。伦敦交通局实际上已经破产，为了缓解资金危机，一些地铁线路一度面临关闭数日的局面。
Unions asking for more money and no job cuts may be representing their members’ interests, but the Government needs to consider those of the public. Using the opportunities offered by technological advances would have been a start.
工会要求更高的薪资和不裁员可能代表了工会成员的利益，但政府需要考虑公众的利益。利用技术进步所提供的机会本来会是个开始。