劍橋雅思 17 閱讀原文翻譯 T1P1—The Development of the Underground Railway

本篇文章共分 8 段，從倫敦地鐵建造的動機、規劃、施工方法、延伸路線、機電設備以及對於倫敦市街的影響娓娓道來。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

1. 倫敦交通沉疴

   In the first half of the 1800s, London’s population grew at an astonishing rate, and the central area became increasingly congested. In addition, the expansion of the overground railway network resulted in more and more passengers arriving in the capital. However, in 1846, a Royal Commission decided that the railways should not be allowed to enter the City, the capital’s historic and business centre. The result was that the overground railway stations formed a ring around the City. The area within consisted of poorly built, overcrowded slums and the streets were full of horse-drawn traffic. Crossing the City became a nightmare. It could take an hour and a half to travel 8 km by horse-drawn carriage or bus. Numerous schemes were proposed to resolve these problems, but few succeeded.

   在 19 世紀上半葉，倫敦的人口以驚人的速度增長，中心區域變得越來越擁擠。此外，地面鐵路網的擴張導致越來越多的乘客抵達首都。然而，1846 年，一個皇家委員會決定，不應允許鐵路進入首都的歷史和商業中心--城市。其結果是，地上的火車站形成了一個環繞城市的環形。該地區由建築簡陋、過度擁擠的貧民窟組成，街道上到處都是馬車交通。穿越這座城市成了一場噩夢。乘坐馬車或公共汽車行駛 8 公里可能需要一個半小時。為了解決這些問題，人們提出了許多方案， 但很少有成功的。

2. 地鐵計劃通過

   Amongst the most vocal advocates for a solution to London’s traffic problems was Charles Pearson, who worked as a solicitor for the City of London. He saw both social and economic advantages in building an underground railway that would link the overground railway stations together and clear London slums at the same time. His idea was to relocate the poor workers who lived in the inner-city slums to newly constructed suburbs, and to provide cheap rail travel for them to get to work. Pearson’s ideas gained support amongst some businessmen and in 1851 he submitted a plan to Parliament. It was rejected, but coincided with a proposal from another group for an underground connecting line, which Parliament passed.

   查理斯-皮爾遜（Charles Pearson）是解決倫敦交通問題的最有力的倡導者之一，他是倫敦金融城的一名律師。他認為修建地下鐵路具有社會和經濟優勢，可以將地面火車站連接起來，同時清理倫敦的貧民窟。他的想法是將居住在市內貧民窟的貧困工人遷移到新建的郊區，並為他們提供廉價的鐵路交通來上班。皮爾遜的想法得到了一些商人的支持，1851 年他向議會提交了一份計畫。該計畫被否決，但與另一個團體提出的地下連接線的建議相吻合，議會通過了該建議。

3. 計劃遭遇阻力

   The two groups merged and established the Metropolitan Railway Company in August 1854. The company’s plan was to construct an underground railway line from the Great Western Railway’s (GWR) station at Paddington to the edge of the City at Farringdon Street – a distance of almost 5 km. The organisation had difficulty in raising the funding for such a radical and expensive scheme, not least because of the critical articles printed by the press. Objectors argued that the tunnels would collapse under the weight of traffic overhead, buildings would be shaken and passengers would be poisoned by the emissions from the train engines. However, Pearson and his partners persisted.

   這兩個集團於 1854 年 8 月合併並成立了大都會鐵路公司。該公司的計畫是建造一條地下鐵路線，從位於帕丁頓的大西部鐵路（GWR）車站到位於法林頓街的城市邊緣，距離近 5 公里。該組織在為這樣一個激進而昂貴的計畫籌集資金時遇到了困難，尤其是因為媒體刊登的批評文章。反對者認為，隧道會在頭頂上的交通重量下坍塌，建築物會搖晃，乘客會遭到火車引擎的排放物所毒害。然而，皮爾遜和他的合夥人堅持了下來。

4. 開始建造

   The GWR, aware that the new line would finally enable them to run trains into the heart of the City, invested almost £250,000 in the scheme. Eventually, over a five-year period, £Im was raised. The chosen route ran beneath existing main roads to minimise the expense of demolishing buildings. Originally scheduled to be completed in 21 months, the construction of the underground line took three years. It was built just below street level using a technique known as ‘cut and cover’. A trench about ten metres wide and six metres deep was dug, and the sides temporarily held up with timber beams. Brick walls were then constructed, and finally a brick arch was added to create a tunnel. A two-metre-deep layer of soil was laid on top of the tunnel and the road above rebuilt.

   GWR 意識到新的線路最終將使他們能夠將火車開到倫敦金融城的中心，因此為該計畫投資了近 25 萬英鎊。最終，在五年的時間裡，籌集到了一百萬英鎊。所選擇的路線在現有的主幹道下運行，以儘量減少拆除建築物的費用。原本計畫在 21 個月內完成，但地下線路的建設花了三年時間。它採用一種被稱為「切割與覆蓋」 的技術，在街道路面以下建造。先挖出一條寬約 10 米、深約 6 米的溝，兩側用木梁臨時支撐起來。然後建造磚牆，最後加上一個磚拱，形成一個隧道。在隧道頂部鋪上兩米深的土層，然後重建上面的道路。

5. 完工通車

   The Metropolitan line, which opened on 10 January 1863, was the world’s first underground railway. On its first day, almost 40,000 passengers were carried between Paddington and Farringdon, the journey taking about 18 minutes. By the end of the Metropolitan’‘s first year of operation, 9.5 million journeys had been made.

   大都會線於 1863 年 1 月 10 日開通，是世界上第一條地下鐵路。在開通的第一天，帕丁頓和法林頓之間有近 40,000 名乘客，行程約為 18分鐘。到大都會線運營的第一年結束時，已經有 950 萬人次出行。

6. 支線工程與車頭

   Even as the Metropolitan began operation, the first extensions to the line were being authorised; these were built over the next five years, reaching Moorgate in the east of London and Hammersmith in the west. The original plan was to pull the trains with steam locomotives, using firebricks in the boilers to provide steam, but these engines were never introduced. Instead, the line used specially designed locomotives that were fitted with water tanks in which steam could be condensed. However, smoke and fumes remained a problem, even though ventilation shafts were added to the tunnels.

   甚至在大都會開始運營的同時，該線路的第一批延伸路線也通過批准了；這些延伸路線在接下來的五年裡完工，到達了倫敦東部的沼澤門站和西部的漢默史密斯。最初的計畫是用蒸汽機車頭拉動列車，用鍋爐中的火磚來提供蒸汽，但這些發動機從未被採用。相反，該線路使用了特別設計的機車頭，這些機車頭安裝了水箱，蒸汽可以在其中凝結。然而，即使在隧道裡增加了通風井，煙霧和煙塵仍然是一個問題。

7. 隧道工程

   Despite the extension of the underground railway, by the 1880s, congestion on London’s streets had become worse. The problem was partly that the existing underground lines formed a circuit around the centre of London and extended to the suburbs, but did not cross the capital’s centre. The ‘cut and cover’ method of construction was not an option in this part of the capital. The only alternative was to tunnel deep underground.

   儘管有了地下鐵路的延伸，但到了 19 世紀 80 年代，倫敦街道的擁堵情況變得更加嚴重。問題的部分原因是，現有的地下線路形成了一個圍繞倫敦中心的回路，並延伸到郊區，但沒有穿過首都的中心。在首都的這部分地區，「切割和覆蓋」 的施工方法無法成為選項。唯一的替代方案是在地下深挖隧道。

8. 大功告成

   Although the technology to create these tunnels existed, steam locomotives could not be used in such a confined space. It wasn’t until the development of a reliable electric motor, and a means of transferring power from the generator to a moving train, that the world’s first deep-level electric railway, the City & South London, became possible. The line opened in 1890, and ran from the City to Stockwell, south of the River Thames. The trains were made up of three carriages and driven by electric engines. The carriages were narrow and had tiny windows just below the roof because it was thought that passengers would not want to look out at the tunnel walls. The line was not without its problems, mainly caused by an unreliable power supply. Although the City & South London Railway was a great technical achievement, it did not make a profit. Then, in 1900, the Central London Railway, known as the ‘Tuppenny Tube’, began operation using new electric locomotives. It was very popular and soon afterwards new railways and extensions were added to the growing tube network. By 1907, the heart of today’s Underground system was in place.

   雖然當時建造這些隧道的技術存在，但蒸汽機車頭無法在如此狹窄的空間內使用。直到開發出可靠的電動馬達，以及將動力從發電機轉移到行駛中列車的方法，世界上第一條深層電力鐵路—倫敦金融城和南區鐵路才得以誕生。該線路於 1890 年開通，從倫敦金融城到泰晤士河以南的斯托克維爾。列車由三節車廂組成，由電力發動機驅動。車廂很窄，車頂下的窗戶很小，因為人們認為乘客不願意看隧道壁。這條線路並非完美，主要是由於其不可靠的電力供應所導致。儘管金融城和南倫敦鐵路是一項偉大的技術成就，但它並沒有盈利。之後，在 1900 年，被稱為「Tuppenny Tube」 的倫敦中央鐵路開始使用新的電力機車運營。這條路線非常受歡迎，不久之後，新的鐵路和延伸部分漸次加入到不斷增長的地鐵網路中。到 1907 年，今天的地鐵系統的核心部分已經到位。