经济学人257:欧洲铁路 追求瑞安航空一样的铁路系统

　　Business

商业报道

European railways

欧洲铁路

The quest for a Ryanair of rail freight

追求瑞安航空一样的铁路系统

The EU wants more goods to be moved by train. Progress is slow

欧盟想要更多的货物通过铁路运输，但进展缓慢。

IN AVIATION the arrival of privately 1 owned lowcost airlines has shaken up the market and sent the traditional flag carriers into retreat.

在航空领域，低成本的私人航空公司的到来搅乱了市场，使传统的航空运输业不断受到挤压。

But in Europe's railway business there is still little competition in passenger services.

但在欧洲的铁路客运业务仍缺少竞争。

Even in freight, where there ought to be more scope for rivalry 2, the market is still dominated by state-owned incumbents 3.

即使在理应有更多竞争的铁路货运，占市场主导地位的仍然是国有企业。

222222222_副本.jpgThe European Commission's Transport 2050 plan, adopted two years ago, promises to get half of all the continent's mediumdistance goods transport off the roads and on to rail by 2050.

两年前欧盟委员会通过的交通运输2050计划，期望到2050年得到大陆一半的中长途货物运输的道路和铁路。

But although some progress has been made in designating crossborder rail corridors, the plan will not get far unless there is more choice and competition.

虽然在指定的跨境铁路走廊已取得一些进展，不过该计划将不会走的太远，除非有更多的选择和竞争。

Newer, private railfreight firms complain that their attempts to get into the market are frustrated 4 by the incumbents.

新的私营铁路货运公司抱怨说，在他们试图进入市场时遭到现有公司的阻碍。

Laszlo Horvath, president of CER Hungary, complains that the stateowned giants, which usually own the tracks as well as running trains, turn nasty whenever young private firms like his try to expand.

匈牙利CER主席拉斯洛霍瓦特抱怨说，通常拥有铁路以及正在运行的列车的国有企业在私人公司想扩大规模时变得令人讨厌。

In January the commission launched its fourth railway package, intended to create a single European rail marketclearly the first three were not enough.

由于前三个铁路包不足以满足市场需求，今年一月欧盟委员会推出了第四条铁路包以建立一个统一的欧洲铁路市场。

It requires the incumbents to separate, financially and operationally, the part of their business that runs trains from the bit that owns and maintains tracks and signals—although they can still belong to the same holding company.

它要求企业在财务和运营上进行分拆，他们业务的一部分，运行列车和维护轨道、信号仍然可以属于同一控股公司。

If the new rules are vigorously enforced—a big if—Deutsche Bahn will for instance have to be reorganised so that DB Schenker Rail, its freight company shares no operations or cashflows with DB Netz, which owns most of the German rail network.

如果大力执行这个新规则，将德国联邦铁路公司进行重组，因此，DB辛克铁路的货运公司与拥有大部分的德国铁路网络的DB Netz公司没有业务合作和资金共享。

That should offer more of a chance to firms like Advanced World Transport in Prague.

这应该向布拉格的世界先进交通运输这样的企业提供更多机会。

We want to be the Ryanair of rail freight, says Pierre Timmermans, its boss.

我们希望成为瑞安铁路货运老板皮埃尔·蒂默曼说。

AWT is a privatised company that grew out of OKD, a state firm which ran coal and steel trucks from the mines of Moravia. Now it is central Europe's biggest private operator, with around 160 locomotives and 5,500 wagons 5.

AWT是从OKD分离出的私有化公司，OKD是从摩拉维亚矿山运输煤炭和钢铁的国有企业。现在它是欧洲中部最大的私人运营商，拥有约160台机车和5500辆货车。

It plans to expand its operating radius 6 to take it to most European ports.

它计划扩大其业务范围到欧洲的大部分港口。

But AWT, like all freight operators, faces obstacles at every national border.

但是像所有的货运经营者，AWT在许多国家的边境也面临障碍。

Apart from the state incumbents' lack of clarity about fees for access to their tracks, these include different safety rules, signalling systems and voltage, and differences in gauges 7.

除了缺乏进入这些国有企业路网所需要的明晰费用，还包括不同的安全规则，信号系统和电压，压力表差异。

A haul from Ljubljana to Istanbul involves five countries and eight changes of locomotive according to a 2010 study for the European Commission.

根据欧盟委员会2010年的研究从卢布尔雅到伊斯坦布尔的1577km涉及5个国家和更换8个机车。

Few drivers are licensed 8 for more than one country.

很少有司机有其他国家的驾驶执照。

Multi-system locomotives are expensive, costing up to 4m, making it hard for any firm other than subsidised operators to afford them.

能够使用多系统的机车很昂贵，耗资高达4百万欧元，没有补贴的运营商没有能力支付这个费用。

Each of the commission's proposed rail corridors will be managed by a secretariat whose job will be to reduce paperwork and offer operators a one-stop shop to seek permission to run a train.

欧盟委员会建议的各条铁路线将通过秘书处管理，其工作将是减少文书工作，并提供运营商所寻求的运行列车的一站式管理。

Six of the corridors are supposed to be in operation by November, but are running late.

6条线应该是在11月运作，但推迟了。

Corridor 1, from Rotterdam to Genoa, runs smoothly 9 from the Dutch port to the German border after 4.7 billion of improvements to tracks and signals.

铁路线1是从鹿特丹到热那亚，在花费47亿欧元改善轨道和信号系统后顺利从荷兰港口运行到德国边境。

But Germany, having spent heavily on its own signalling standards, is reluctant to upgrade its signals again to the latest pan-European standard, called ERTMS.

但是德国已在自己的信号标准上花费了巨资，是不愿意将信号再次升级到最新的称为ERTMS的泛欧标准。

Only recently has its government agreed to contribute 746m to upgrade a 73km stretch inside its territory.

直到最近德国政府才同意出资7.46亿欧元升级其领土内73公里线路。

Other corridors are even further behind.

其他线路则进展缓慢。

Corridor 6 is expected to cost almost 80 billion to upgrade,

线路6预计将耗资近800亿欧元进行升级，

but given the dire 10 finances of the five countries it passes through—Spain, France, Italy, Slovenia and Hungary—that money is not going to be forthcoming for a long time.

但考虑到其沿线五国西班牙，法国，意大利，斯洛文尼亚和匈牙利严峻的财政状况，在以后的很长一段时间内资金都会很紧张。

Closer to reality is a separate experiment called Retrack, initially 11 sponsored by the EU, to encourage a clutch of private companies and consultants 12 to develop a freight route from Rotterdam to Hungary and beyond.

更接近现实的是最初由欧盟资助的另一项称为Retrack的实验，鼓励私营公司和咨询公司制定从鹿特丹到匈牙利或更远的货运航线。

It got off to a shaky start but Transpetrol, a rail-freight firm based in Hamburg, now runs up to five trains a week in co-operation with CER Hungary and LTE of Austria, another private firm—and it makes a profit.

在开始阶段反复不定，但总部设在德国汉堡的铁路货运公司Transpetrol，现在每周与匈牙利CER和奥地利的另一家私人公司LTE合作运行每周多达5趟列车并且处于盈利状态。

The trick seems to be flexibility 13 in putting together trainloads from small groups of wagons, well-timed leasing of locomotives and rolling-stock, and negotiating good access rates.

诀窍似乎是将分散的少量运载车一起运输，及时租赁机车和车厢，提高周转率和谈判的灵活性。

Transpetrol says it has also persuaded customers that they will not suffer any repercussions 14 from the state-owned competition.

TRANSPETROL说，他们已承诺客户不会受到国有企业的影响。

Until competition is more open, private challengers will be on an uphill gradient.

随着竞争更加开放，私人企业将面临越来越激烈的竞争。

The future may be that Europe ends up with four dominant 15 incumbents and a few agile 16 smaller ones from the private sector 17 says Tom Zunder at Newcastle University.

汤姆真德在纽卡斯大学说未来在欧洲货运铁路系统很可能是有四家竞争力较强的企业和一些私人拥有的灵活的小企业。

One of the big four will undoubtedly 18 be DB Schenker Rail.

DB辛克铁路公司无疑将是四大企业之一。

It has subsidiaries in Britain, France, Poland, Hungary and Bulgaria.

它在英国，法国，波兰，匈牙利和保加利亚设有子公司。

It runs a daily freight service to China and in September it will begin a service three times a week to Istanbul.

它每天为中国提供货运服务，并将于9月将开始每周三次为伊斯坦布尔提供货运服务。

Even private-sector challengers acknowledge it is well-run.

即使是私营企业的挑战者也承认它运行良好。

Few question the virtue 19 of getting more goods onto rail, but efforts to do so have been mixed.

为铁路争取更多的货物面临几个问题，所做努力的结果也是喜忧参半。

EU auditors 20 recently recommended pulling the plug on another project, Marco Polo, in which large sums have been spent on tracks and terminals with not much improvement to show for it.

最近欧盟的审计师建议另一个已花费大笔资金改造线路和站点却仍没有多大改善的马可波罗项目。

The biggest obstacle is that road transport is so efficient and flexible: Even this afternoon I could probably get something shipped to Sofia by truck, says Mr Zunder.

最大的障碍是公路运输高效和灵活。真德先生说：即使今天下午，我大概还可以得到由卡车从索非亚运来的东西。

In contrast rail-freight routes can still take up to 18 months to plan.

相比之下，铁路货运有长达18个月的货运计划。

Even once the EU has all its corridors in operation, it will struggle to get half of all cargo 21 on the rails.

欧盟甚至一度使其所有线路处于运营状态，它将争取把一半的公路运输转移到铁路上来。

1.shake up 摇匀；以摇动弄好；使战栗

Microsoft had largely grown complacent 22 until google came along to shake up categories.

微软一向自命不凡，直到谷歌的到来，才撼动了其地位。

Its reluctance 23 to shake up the power market is coming back to haunt it.

政府不情愿动摇电力市场的局面仍会不断纠缠它。

2.ought to 应当，应该；理应

This process ought to be highly sophisticated.

这个过程应该是非常复杂的。

If you haven't seen it you really ought to look.

如果你还没有看过，真该去看一下。

3.promise to 承诺

Last year he campaigned for governor with the promise to shake up state government.

去年他凭借要彻底改变州政府现状的承诺参选纽约州州长。

France has postponed 24 its promise to balance its budget, from 2010 to 2012.

法国承诺2010年平衡预算，但现在已经推迟到2012年。

4.attempt to 尝试，企图；试图做某事

Your letter is a feeble attempt to hide your intolerance.

你的这封信，是一种试图掩盖你狭隘心胸的苍白举动。

This was an attempt to close that chapter.

这也许是创造新开始的尝试。