英國衛報：鐵路私有化是一場災難

　　Privatising the railways was a disaster. It's time to renationalise

　　鐵路私有化是一場災難，是再次國有化的時候了

　　Passengers are paying a fortune to travel in overcrowded trains, so Labour, like the Greens, should seize the initiative

　　乘客們花費不菲，車廂卻擁擠不堪，所以工黨應象綠黨一樣掌握主動。

　　作者：Caroline Lucas (卡洛琳.盧卡斯，英國綠黨領袖，歐洲議會議員)

　　Thursday 22 August 2013

　　'The solution the Green party is proposing is for our railways to be brought back into public hands, with passengers having a greater say in the development of the system.' Photograph: Bruno Vincent/Getty Images

　　‘綠黨的方案是提議將我們的鐵路回購到公眾手中來，而且乘客們也要在鐵路系統的發展中有更大的話語權’

　　"No direction", "dithering", "rudderless". Ed Miliband isn't the first opposition leader to hear this kind of language as an election looms, so perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that his MPs are queuing up to offer him friendly encouragement to fill the policy vacuum.

　　“無方向”，“猶豫”，“群龍無首”，米利班德不是第一個在選舉在即時聽到這種言論的反對黨領袖，所以當他的下院議員們排著隊給他鼓勁以填補這個政策真空時，可能我們并不會感到奇怪。

　　Clearly, it's not easy being in opposition, knowing that every policy announcement can and will be used against you by the government and a hostile media. But that's why politics requires courage.

　　顯然，當知道到你的每個政策聲明都能也將被政府和敵對的媒體用來反擊你時，做反對黨也不容易，不過這也正說明為何政治需要勇氣。

　　Labour now has some fantastic opportunities to get behind progressive policies that would resonate with its traditional support and with voters. One in particular is about to pull into the station. With the dreadful news last week that rail fares will go up by an average of 4.1% next year (and sincere sympathies to you if you're one of the many passengers who will be hit much harder than that), it's surely time for Labour to accept that privatisation of the railways was a disastrous failure that it should have reversed when it had the chance.

　　工黨現在有一些極好的機會去推動將引起其傳統支持者和選民共鳴的進步政策，尤其是在鐵路運營這一方面。對于上周發布的火車票價將在明年平均調高約4.1%的可怕的新聞(如果你是將要受此打擊更嚴重的乘客之一，在此致以深切的同情)，從工黨來說，應當認識到鐵路私有化是一場災難性失敗并應在有機會時予以撤銷，可以說現在正逢其時。

　　With the prime minister's former speechwriter, Ian Birrell, leaping to the defence of privatised services and talking about record levels of passenger satisfaction, surely now is the time for Miliband's team to sign up to a policy that would genuinely distinguish him from the coalition. The shadow transport secretary, Maria Eagle, sounds as if she wants to head in that direction. She recently criticised the government's determination to re-privatise the East Coast service, calling it "bizarre and dogmatic". East Coast, she noted, makes one of the highest payments to the public purse, receives the least subsidy and is the only route on which all profits are reinvested in services. So why doesn't Labour go the whole way?

　　鑒于首相的前演講稿撰寫人伊恩.比勒爾對私有化服務迅速作出了辯護，指出乘客滿意率已達創紀錄的水平，無疑，現在就是時候，米爾班德的班子應該達成一項方針以切實的把他與本聯盟區分開來。

　　影子運輸大臣瑪麗亞.伊格聽起來似乎想朝這個方向前進，她最近批評了政府對東海岸(鐵路)服務再次私有化的決定，稱其“離奇而武斷”，她指出，東海岸的服務形成了對公共資金來說最昂貴的支出之一，(但它)接受最少的補貼并且是將所有利潤再投資于服務項目的唯一線路，所以工黨有何理由不一路走下去呢?

　　The Rebuilding Rail report, published last year by Transport for Quality of Life, offers a superb analysis of the mess Britain's railways are in. It finds that the private sector has not delivered the innovation and investment that were once promised, that the costs of back-room staff have massively increased, and that the costs of train travel rose by 17% between 1997 and 2010 (while the costs of travelling by car fell). It conservatively estimates that ￡1.2bn is being lost each year as a result of fragmentation and privatisation. The irony is that some of the biggest profiters are the state-owned rail companies of our neighbours: Deutsche Bahn, for example, owns three UK franchises.

　　去年由“通向優質生活的交通”發布的鐵路重建報告對英國鐵路的混亂現況提供了一個極好的分析，它認為私營部門沒有完成曾經承諾的革新與投入，幕后人員的成本大幅增加，1997年至2010年間鐵路出行的成本上升了17%(在此期間汽車出行的成本在降低)，報告審慎的估計每年因系統碎片化和私有化造成的損失為12億英鎊，諷刺的是，某些最大的盈利者是我們鄰居的國有鐵路公司：例如德國聯邦鐵路公司，它擁有三份英國鐵路的特許經營權。

　　Birrell seeks to paint opponents of privatisation as dewy-eyed nostalgists. But the modern, efficient, clean, affordable services enjoyed in other parts of Europe offer a much better blueprint than our own past. The solution the Green party is proposing is for our railways to be brought back into public hands, with passengers having a greater say in the development of the system. The government would take back individual franchises when they expire, or when companies fail to meet their conditions. The enormous savings generated could and should then be reinvested in rail infrastructure, and to reduce the soaring cost of fares.

　　比勒爾力圖將私有化的反對者描繪為天真的懷舊者，但是，歐洲其它地方享有的現代化的，有效率的，清潔的，負擔得起的鐵路服務提供了一個與我們所經歷的相比要好得多的藍圖，綠黨正在提議的方案是將我們的鐵路購回公眾手中，而且乘客們也要在鐵路系統的發展中擁有更大的話語權，當獨立專營權到期，或公司未能滿足政府的條件時，政府應當將其收回，所產生的龐大的結余款項既可以(也應當)再投資于鐵路基礎設施，也可令高昂的票價成本得以降低。

　　My private member's bill sets out the process to make this happen, and is due to have its second reading in October. I've written to Maria Eagle asking if Labour will get behind it. As a policy for Labour, it's unlikely to play well in the Mail and the Telegraph. But I suspect many of their readers – particularly those reading their papers while jammed up against a fellow commuter on an overcrowded, overpriced train – might be more receptive. And certainly there are many rank and file Labour MPs, many of whom are already backing the bill, who are desperate to see their leader prove himself as the conviction politician he says he is.

　　我的下院議員的法案擬定了促成此事的程序，因在十月份將進入二讀，我已致信瑪麗亞.伊格,詢問工黨是否會支持此法案。按工黨的政策，它不大可能在郵政和電報事務中得心應手，但是我猜測許多他們的讀者--尤其是那些擠在人滿為患且票價高昂的通勤車中的讀過他們的文件的人--可能更能接受，無疑，擁有大量基層群眾的工黨下院議員中的許多人已在支持此法案，他們渴望看到他們的領袖證明自己是如他所言的意志堅定的政治家。

　　【網絡評論數千條】(僅譯前15條--譯注)

　　RandomAccountant

　　22 August 2013 5:34pm

　　Recommend 1293

　　Agreed, along with Gas and Electricity.

　　贊同，燃氣和電力也要一起來(此評論點贊的最多，1293次，看來英國的燃氣和電力也是私營的--譯注)。

　　Zakida RandomAccountant

　　22 August 2013 5:38pm

　　Recommend 319

　　And money creation

　　還有貨幣發行

　　RandomAccountant Zakida

　　22 August 2013 5:42pm

　　Recommend 54

　　State money already is.

　　Whether it should guarantee bank money or not is another question.

　　國家的貨幣已經是了。

　　是否它應該對銀行資金作擔保，或不會出現另一個問題。

　　madasballoons RandomAccountant

　　22 August 2013 5:48pm

　　Recommend 402

　　And water of course.

　　當然還有供水。

　　thefivefingerman

　　22 August 2013 5:35pm

　　Recommend 49

　　So brave.

　　如此勇敢。

　　percentages thefivefingerman

　　22 August 2013 5:50pm

　　Recommend 899

　　Privatising the railways was a disaster. It's time to renationalise

　　It seems Caroline Lucas & the Greens are now the true party of the Left since Ed Milliband is busy trying to be a true Tory. Well done.

　　鐵路私有化是一場災難，是把它重新國有化的時候了。

　　自從米利班德忙于試圖成為一個真正的保守黨人開始，卡洛琳.盧卡斯和綠黨看似就是左翼的真正一員了，干得好。

　　jonniestewpot thefivefingerman

　　22 August 2013 5:57pm

　　Recommend 65

　　So brave.

　　Well it's a start.

　　如此勇敢。

　　好，這是一個開始。

　　dsmith9 thefivefingerman

　　22 August 2013 6:05pm

　　Recommend 7

　　Not really. The railways have and always will be a loss making enterprise. The railways lost money even in the glory days. Probably why Thatcher never privatized them (they forever need subsidy).

　　http://www.tssa.org.uk/en/whats-new/news/index.cfm/are-eu-rules-really-a-barrier-to-reuniting-the-railways-under-public-control

　　One worrying point - how will competition effect the railways? Can a re-nationalized BR compete with the German Deutsche Bahn on British rails?

　　不是真的，鐵路已經且將總是一個虧本的企業，鐵路甚至在它輝煌歲月里也虧錢，大概這就是撒切爾為何從不私有化它們(它們永遠需要補貼)--此句似乎說反了，撒切爾是鐵路私有化的推行者--譯注

　　令人擔心的一點--競爭將如何影響鐵路?再國有化的英國鐵路公司能與德國人的聯邦鐵路公司在英國的鐵路上競爭么?

　　RandomAccountant dsmith9

　　22 August 2013 6:14pm

　　Recommend 88

　　Why does it need to compete ?

　　為何它需要競爭?

　　ninfan thefivefingerman

　　22 August 2013 6:19pm

　　Recommend 20

　　Agreed - I'm hoping that Caroline will continue the process towards direct action, perhaps the image of her standing in front of a train would be the spur towards the rest of the left to do the same?

　　同意--我盼望著卡羅琳將繼續這個直接行動的程序，也許她站在列車前面的形象會鼓舞其它的左派也這樣做?

　　SWRural2 dsmith9

　　22 August 2013 6:27pm

　　Recommend 14

　　You must be very young -which do you call the glory days?

　　你一定非常年輕--你稱呼何時為輝煌歲月?

　　GeoffTr ninfan

　　22 August 2013 7:02pm

　　Recommend 8

　　Let's hope the train doesn't stop!

　　讓我們期待火車不要停下來!

　　thunderstorm percentages

　　22 August 2013 7:04pm

　　Recommend 25

　　green has been the new red for a long time.

　　if their rail strategy is as effective as their energy strategy, commuters will be pushing the trains.

　　think green, think stone age.

　　綠黨很久以來就是新紅了(此句意思不明--譯注)

　　如果他們的鐵路戰略與他們的能源戰略的效果一樣，通勤者們將要去推火車。

　　想想綠黨，想想石器石代。

　　Cynical007 dsmith9

　　22 August 2013 7:23pm

　　Recommend 88

　　Can a re-nationalized BR compete with the German Deutsche Bahn on British rails?

　　Since the privateers currently get three times the public subsidy that British rail got (not to mention the massive fare increases since privatisation) I think running the railways as a public service could work quite well.

　　After all, the example you give of an effective competitor, Deutsche Bahn, is owned by the German government.

　　再國有化的英國鐵路公司能與德國人的聯邦鐵路公司在英國的鐵路上競爭么?

　　自從私營業者們最近接受了三次對英國鐵路的政府補助后(別提因為私有化造成的大幅票價上漲了)，我認為把鐵路作為公共服務來經營會運作得很好。

　　畢竟，你舉出的實際競爭對手的例子，聯邦鐵路公司，是屬于德國政府的。

　　Smollett dsmith9

　　22 August 2013 7:48pm

　　Recommend 95

　　BR was the most efficient railway in Europe with the highest proportion of high speed routes. All its R&D and manufacturing was done in-house and/or UK-based. All that's been lost as well.

　　英國鐵路公司曾是歐洲最有效率的鐵路部門，高速線路比例最高，它的所有研發和制造在內部和/或以英國為基地完成，所有這些也都已失去了。

　　鐵路私有化, initiative, disaster, Caroline, solution

　　英國鐵路是這樣玩的——先用財政資金也就是P民交的稅把鐵路建設好，接著找幾個經濟學家來論證下國有企業的效率底下和私企的高效，然后把鐵路私有化給權貴。權貴拿去運營個十幾年賺個盆滿缽滿，等設備老化了退休員工也多了，又找幾個經濟學家來論證下鐵路設備老化服務不佳影響經濟發展，再從財政上拿一大筆錢把鐵路買回來。最后財政出錢搞好設備養好退休工人后，一切再從頭循環一次

　　中國鐵路也在朝這路子狂奔

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