填空题
A. The main lines that currently serve Europe are largely a product of the 19th century. The railways have been in decline for most of the 20th century. From the 1920s onwards, motor vehicles began pilfering the short-distance traffic. In the 1960s the airplane snatched long-distance travelers and motorways squeezed the railways still further.
B. The plans were unveiled last month in Brussels at a conference on high-speed trains hosted by the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer and the Community of European Railways (a grouping that includes the 12 Community railways plus Austria and Switzerland). They expand on those of December 1990, which have already received the blessing of the Community's transport ministers.
C. Japan led the way forward when it opened a new high-speed line in 1964. The "bullet" trains between Tokyo and Osaka were the first in the world to average more than 160 kilometers per hour, Europe followed suit. The French high-speed line between Paris and Lyon, which opened in two stages in 1981 and 1983, halved journey times. A non-stop train now takes two hours and the number of passengers traveling by train between the two cities has trebled. The Italian Railways opened its high-speed line, between Florence and Rome, during the 1980s.
D. Progress has been slower, and more costly, in Germany where German Railways has been planning high-speed lines since 1970. Environmental opposition delayed procedures for acquiring land, which forced the authorities to put large stretches of new line into tunnels. This in turn caused another problem. Entering a tunnel at high speed creates pressure pluses that cause passengers' ears to pop unpleasantly. As a result, Germany's intercity trains are sealed and pressurized like aircraft to insulate passengers from the changes in pressure outside.
E. The scope of the vision is breathtaking. According to Andres Lopez, professor of engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, twice as many miles of new railways are being planned as miles of motorway. The blueprint envisages the network of high-speed lines growing from a few hundred kilometers to 3,000 kilometers by 1,996 and 7,400 kilometers by the end of the century. It sees the network extending eventually to 20,000 kilometers with a further 15,000 kilometers of existing lines being substantially rebuilt for high speeds at a cost of
180 billion.
F. Nevertheless, in the 1990s the pace of opening has already begun to accelerate. Last year Germany opened its first two high-speed lines and France opened its second TGV line. Last month, Spanish Railways became the fourth railways to join the 250 kilometers per hour club when it opened a new line from Madrid to Seville. Over the next four years a further six stretches of high-speed line will open: three in France and one each in Austria, Belgium and Germany. Britain will finally be linked to this growing network when trains begin to run through the Channel Tunnel from London to Brussels and Paris, although delays in delivering the rolling stock make this unlikely until early in 1994.
G. Four European railways currently have high-speed trains. Perhaps the best known is French Railways, TGV, which holds the world speed record of 515 kilometers per hour. But Germany, Italy and Spain also have trains that are capable of exceeding 250 kilometers per hour (the threshold that defines high speed). Now new plans propose a network not only linking countries in the European Community but extending across Eastern Europe too.
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B. The plans were unveiled last month in Brussels at a conference on high-speed trains hosted by the Union Internationale des Chemins de fer and the Community of European Railways (a grouping that includes the 12 Community railways plus Austria and Switzerland). They expand on those of December 1990, which have already received the blessing of the Community's transport ministers.
C. Japan led the way forward when it opened a new high-speed line in 1964. The "bullet" trains between Tokyo and Osaka were the first in the world to average more than 160 kilometers per hour, Europe followed suit. The French high-speed line between Paris and Lyon, which opened in two stages in 1981 and 1983, halved journey times. A non-stop train now takes two hours and the number of passengers traveling by train between the two cities has trebled. The Italian Railways opened its high-speed line, between Florence and Rome, during the 1980s.
D. Progress has been slower, and more costly, in Germany where German Railways has been planning high-speed lines since 1970. Environmental opposition delayed procedures for acquiring land, which forced the authorities to put large stretches of new line into tunnels. This in turn caused another problem. Entering a tunnel at high speed creates pressure pluses that cause passengers' ears to pop unpleasantly. As a result, Germany's intercity trains are sealed and pressurized like aircraft to insulate passengers from the changes in pressure outside.
E. The scope of the vision is breathtaking. According to Andres Lopez, professor of engineering at the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, twice as many miles of new railways are being planned as miles of motorway. The blueprint envisages the network of high-speed lines growing from a few hundred kilometers to 3,000 kilometers by 1,996 and 7,400 kilometers by the end of the century. It sees the network extending eventually to 20,000 kilometers with a further 15,000 kilometers of existing lines being substantially rebuilt for high speeds at a cost of
180 billion.F. Nevertheless, in the 1990s the pace of opening has already begun to accelerate. Last year Germany opened its first two high-speed lines and France opened its second TGV line. Last month, Spanish Railways became the fourth railways to join the 250 kilometers per hour club when it opened a new line from Madrid to Seville. Over the next four years a further six stretches of high-speed line will open: three in France and one each in Austria, Belgium and Germany. Britain will finally be linked to this growing network when trains begin to run through the Channel Tunnel from London to Brussels and Paris, although delays in delivering the rolling stock make this unlikely until early in 1994.
G. Four European railways currently have high-speed trains. Perhaps the best known is French Railways, TGV, which holds the world speed record of 515 kilometers per hour. But Germany, Italy and Spain also have trains that are capable of exceeding 250 kilometers per hour (the threshold that defines high speed). Now new plans propose a network not only linking countries in the European Community but extending across Eastern Europe too.
Order: