原文标题：Indian railwaysAfter the crashIndia’s massive rail network has a decent safety record overall印度铁路列车相撞后续

(资料图片)

印度庞大的铁路网络总体安全记录良好In the wreckageNarendra Modi’s government denies skimping on rail upkeep事故残骸纳伦德拉.莫迪政府否认在铁路维护方面偷工减料

[Paragraph 1]

IT WAS AROUND 7pm on June 2nd when a train travelling from Kolkata in West Bengal to Chennai, 1,700km down India’s east coast, smashed at full speed into a parked freight train in the state of Odisha, 250km south of Kolkata.

6月2日晚上7点左右，一列从西孟加拉邦加尔各答开往印度东海岸 1,700 公里处的金奈火车，全速撞上了停在加尔各答以南250公里处奥迪沙邦的一列货运火车。

The passenger train’s coaches were derailed and collided with the rear coaches of another train travelling in the opposite direction.

这辆客运列车的车厢脱轨，与另一列往相反方向行驶的列车后部车厢相撞。

[Paragraph 2]

The trains were carrying around 2,000 people, many of them migrants from West Bengal off to seek work in the richer south.

这两列火车载有约2000人，其中许多人是来自西孟加拉邦的移民，他们要到更富裕的南部地区找工作。

At least 288 were killed and more than 1,100 injured, many of them gravely.这起事故中至少有288人死亡，1100多人受伤，其中许多人伤势严重。

[Paragraph 3]

The cause of the accident, the deadliest on India’s railways since 1999, when at least 290 people died in a train collision in West Bengal, was still unclear.

1999年的事故是印度铁路史上最严重的事故，当时至少有290人在西孟加拉邦的列车相撞中丧生，事故原因仍不清楚。

An initial report pointed to a signal failure, but experts suggested that would not normally lead to such a calamity.

一份初步报告指出是信号故障问题，但专家认为这不会导致这么严重的灾难。

The railways minister has hinted that equipment wastampered with and ordered a criminal probe.铁路部长暗示可能是因为设备被篡改了，并下令进行刑事调查。

[Paragraph 4]

Notwithstandingthis disaster, rail travel is not especially dangerous in India, where some 20m people take a train every day.

尽管发生了灾难性事故，但印度的铁路运输相对安全，印度每天约有2000万人乘坐火车出行。

Of the roughly 25,000 who died in train-related accidents every year before the pandemic (a number that had changed little in a decade), most were run over or fell from trains.

疫情之前，每年大约有2.5万人死于火车相关的事故（这个数字在十年内变化不大），其中大多数情况是被火车碾压或从火车上坠落致死。

A tiny minority died in derailments or collisions. And the number of such serious incidents is decreasing.

只有极少数人死于脱轨或碰撞事故。而且这类重大事故的数量正在减少。

By contrast, some 300,000 people are estimated to die on India’s roads each year. 相比之下，据估计每年约有30万人死于印度公路车祸。

[Paragraph 5]

Even so, the tragedy in Odisha is potentially embarrassing for the government of Narendra Modi, given its great emphasis on developing India’s railways and roads.

即便如此，奥迪沙的悲剧可能会让纳伦德拉.莫迪政府感到尴尬，因为它非常重视发展印度的铁路和公路。

This year it plans to spend the equivalent of 1.7% of GDP on them, more than four times as much as India was spending a decade ago, and around double the proportion spent by most developed countries.

今年，政府计划在铁路公路的支出相当于 GDP 的 1.7%，是印度十年前支出的4倍多，大约是大多数发达国家支出比例的2倍。

Mr Modi had been due to inauguratea new high-speed Vande Bharat service the day after the disaster.

莫迪先生原本计划在灾难发生后的第二天为高速“范德巴拉特”服务举行开幕仪式。

Instead he visited the crash site, where he, too, promised to find the culprit: “Whoever is found guilty will be punished severely”.相反，他参观了撞车事故现场，他也承诺一定会找到罪魁祸首："任何有罪之人，都将受到严厉惩罚"。

[Paragraph 6]Despite the railways’ reasonable safety record, the crash is likely to exacerbateclaims that, in its push for new tracks and faster trains, his government is neglecting upgrades to existing tracks and equipment.

尽管铁路部门的安全记录相对合理，但这次事故可能会加剧人们的担忧，担心印度政府在推动新轨道和更快列车时，忽视了对现有轨道和设备的升级。

Last year an audit of derailments by India’s comptroller-general found railway officials had not spent the budget set aside for track repairs, even though it had declined.

去年，印度总审计长对脱轨事件进行了审计，发现铁路官员并未动用轨道维修专项预算，尽管该预算有所下降。

A special fund to pay for safety improvements was not adequately replenishedin any year between 2017 and 2022.

2017-2022年间的任意一年，用于支付安全改进的专项基金补给不足。

Two days after the collision in Odisha, a new bridge being built over the Ganges in the northern state of Bihar collapsed for the second time in just over a year, killing nobody but casting doubt on the quality of flagship construction projects.奥迪沙事故发生2天后，在印度北部比哈尔邦，一座施工中的跨越恒河的新桥在一年多的时间里发生了第二次坍塌，幸好无人死亡，但人们对旗舰建筑项目的质量产生了怀疑。

[Paragraph 7]

The government denies that it isskimpingon safety.

印度政府否认了安全问题上的偷工减料。

It notes that it has accelerated the elimination of dangerous level-crossings, particularly on lines where trains travel at higher speeds, and begun theroll-outof an anti-collision system on some trains.

政府指出，它已经加快了消除危险的平交道，尤其是列车高速行驶线路上的平交道，并开始在一些列车上推出防撞系统。

In the wake of the tragedy in Odisha, it vowed to install additional security features on signalling equipment.奥迪沙的悲剧发生后，政府发誓要在信号设备上安装额外的安全功能。

（恭喜读完，本篇英语词汇量562左右）原文出自：2023年6月10日《The Economist》Asia版块

精读笔记来源于：自由英语之路

本文翻译整理: Irene本文编辑校对: Irene仅供个人英语学习交流使用。

【补充资料】（来自于网络）平交道Level-crossings是指铁路和道路在相交处没有分离的地方。这种路口使铁路和公路交通交错运行，因此在这些地方存在一定的交通安全风险。【重点句子】（3个）The passenger train’s coaches were derailed and collided with the rear coaches of another train travelling in the opposite direction.这辆客运列车的车厢脱轨，与另一列往相反方向行驶的列车后部车厢相撞。A tiny minority died in derailments or collisions. And the number of such serious incidents is decreasing.只有极少数人死于脱轨或碰撞事故。而且这类重大事故的数量正在减少。Despite the railways’ reasonable safety record, the crash is likely to exacerbate claims that, in its push for new tracks and faster trains, his government is neglecting upgrades to existing tracks and equipment.尽管铁路部门的安全记录相对合理，但这次事故可能会加剧人们的担忧，即印度政府在推动新轨道和更快列车时，忽视了对现有轨道和设备的升级。

关键词：