美企欲建华盛顿至纽约磁悬浮铁路

WASHINGTON — A group of Washington investors with high-level political backing and a $5 billion commitment from the Japanese government is pressing ahead with its vision of a high-speed train that could whisk passengers between New York and Washington in about an hour.

华盛顿——一群拥有高层政治背景并已赢得日本政府出资50亿美元（约合300亿元人民币）保证的华盛顿投资者正在着手推进他们心中构想的高速列车建设，力图将纽约和华盛顿之间的客运时长缩短到大约一小时。

The train, which uses a technology called magnetic levitation, or maglev, to float above the track on magnets instead of wheels, would travel at twice the speed of Amtrak’s Acela. It is one of several high-speed rail projects proposed for the heavily trafficked Northeast Corridor, where chronic traffic congestion and flight delays are expected to get worse.

这种列车使用一种名为“磁悬浮”的技术，借助磁力悬浮在轨道上，而非使用车轮。它的行驶速度将达到美铁(Amtrak)阿西乐列车(Acela)的两倍。为了给交通繁忙的东北走廊分担压力，目前出现了数个高速铁路项目的提议，而磁悬浮计划是其中之一。据预计，东北走廊长期的交通拥堵和航班延误现象将进一步恶化。

At a total estimated cost of $100 billion, critics say a maglev train on the East Coast is little more than a pipe dream. But that has not stopped the investors from pushing the project.

鉴于估算的总花费为1000亿美元，批评人士表示，在东海岸建造磁悬浮列车不过是痴人说梦。不过，这未能阻止投资者去推动这个项目。

On a test track in Japan on Tuesday, a prototype train whooshed a group of visiting Americans through mountains at a top speed of 314 miles per hour — so fast, in fact, that Christie Todd Whitman, the former New Jersey governor and one of the Americans on the ride, said trips on Amtrak between Washington and New York were “embarrassing” by comparison.

周二，一列原型车在日本的测试轨道上，以314英里（约合505公里）的最高时速载着一群美国客人飞速穿越群山——速度非常之快，以致于此次测试的美国乘客之一、新泽西州前州长克里斯蒂·托德·惠特曼(Christie Todd Whitman)禁不住感叹，相比之下，乘美铁列车往返华盛顿和纽约有些“令人难堪”。

To Ms. Whitman, the train is a solution to transportation problems back home, where the Acela — the fastest train in the United States — takes 2 hours 45 minutes to travel between New York and Washington.

在惠特曼看来，这种火车可以解决美国国内的交通问题。在美国，乘坐阿西乐——美国最快的列车——往返纽约和华盛顿，单程需要2小时45分钟。

Ms. Whitman is part of a high-powered advisory board for the Northeast Maglev, a private Washington-based company with a goal of building the Washington-to-New York line. The group, which regularly visits Japan to pursue the project and has taken at least three test rides on the train, is trying to convince skeptical American policy makers and investors that the maglev makes financial and political sense.

惠特曼是东北磁悬浮公司(Northeast Maglev)一个充满权势人物的顾问委员会的成员。这是一家设在华盛顿的私营企业，其目标是修建华盛顿至纽约的磁悬浮铁路。这群顾问经常前往日本推进项目，而且已至少三次试坐这种火车。他们试图使持怀疑态度的美国决策者和投资人相信，磁悬浮列车在经济和政治上都行得通。

The advisory board includes former Gov. George E. Pataki of New York; Tom Daschle, the former Senate majority leader, who also rode on the train in Japan on Tuesday; former Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania; and Mary Peters, who was a secretary of transportation in the George W. Bush administration. Since 2010, the group has spent $1.4 million lobbying Congress and meeting with state and local officials to build support for the project.

该顾问委员会的成员包括纽约州前州长乔治·E·帕塔基(George E. Pataki)、周二也在日本乘坐了火车的前参议院多数党领袖汤姆·达施勒(Tom Daschle)、宾夕法尼亚州前州长爱德华·G·伦德尔(Edward G. Rendell)，以及乔治·W·布什(George W. Bush)政府的运输部长玛丽·彼得斯(Mary Peters)。从2010年开始，为了争取对该项目的支持，他们已经斥资140万美元来游说国会并与州级和地方官员举行会晤。

To try to win public support, the group has commitments from the Japanese government to invest about $5 billion to pay part of the cost of construction of the first leg, an estimated $10 billion route between Washington and Baltimore. The maglev would enable travelers to go between the two cities in as little as 15 minutes.

为了尽力赢得公众支持，他们获得了日本政府出资50亿美元的承诺。这笔钱将用来支付第一段铁路线的部分建设费用。这段铁路将连接华盛顿与巴尔的摩，预计造价为100亿美元。在磁悬浮技术的帮助下，乘客只需最少15分钟就能在这两座城市之间穿梭。

But large obstacles remain.

不过，现实中还是存在一些巨大障碍。

Given the project’s cost, the maglev company would need support from the federal government, but transportation advocates are skeptical that it will be forthcoming. And the U.S. High Speed Rail Association, which supports more conventional high-speed rail systems, has dismissed the maglev train as too expensive and experimental.

由于项目开支巨大，东北磁悬浮公司将需要联邦政府提供支持，但交通行业的活跃人士对此表示怀疑。支持更传统的高铁系统的美国高速铁路联合会(U.S. High-Speed Rail Association)认为，磁悬浮列车过于昂贵且处于试验阶段，不宜考虑。

In addition, the maglev company would have to secure rights of way to build the specialized tracks, a serious financial undertaking on some of the most expensive real estate in the country. The company plans to build a large part of its route underground, which would add to the cost.

此外，这家磁悬浮公司还必须获得在美国某些最昂贵的地段上修建专用轨道的通行权，而这是一项重大经济负担。公司计划把很大一部分路线建在地下，将令成本进一步增加。

But Wayne Rogers, an investor in renewable energy and other projects and chairman and chief executive of Northeast Maglev, said the train makes more sense than current proposals to fix transportation problems in the Northeast, including building more roads and fixing tracks to make Amtrak trains go faster. Adding more highways in the region would increase congestion, he said.

然而，东北磁悬浮公司的董事长兼首席执行官韦恩·罗杰斯(Wayne Rogers)表示，和当前为解决东北地区的运输问题而提出的其他建议相比，磁悬浮列车更合理。相关提议包括，修更多公路，以及升级轨道，以便让美铁列车行驶得更快。身为可再生能源等项目的投资人的罗杰斯说，在该地区多修公路会加剧拥堵。

As for fixing existing tracks to speed up Amtrak trains, “It’s like putting a Ferrari on the crowded Beltway around Washington: It’s not going to make it go any faster,” Mr. Rogers said.

至于升级现有轨道，以便让美铁列车提速，罗杰斯说，“就像把法拉利放在绕华盛顿的环形公路上一样：根本不会让它跑得更快。”

(Amtrak has its own plans to provide high-speed rail on the corridor: a $151 billion proposal to upgrade its existing system to make it easier for trains to travel at 220 m.p.h., which would reduce the trip between New York and Washington to about 90 minutes. Congressional critics and some transportation experts have called the proposal too costly.)

（在为东北走廊提供高速铁路方面，美铁有着自己的计划：一项耗资1510亿美元的提议要求升级现有系统，以便让列车更易于以220英里的时速运行。这将使纽约与华盛顿之间的交通时间减少到大约90分钟。国会的批评人士和部分运输专家称，该方案成本过高。）

Another supporter of the maglev, James P. RePass, chairman of the National Corridors Initiative in Boston, which supports increased federal and private investment in rail projects, said he was previously skeptical of the train project, but has changed his mind.

同样支持磁悬浮的还有全美走廊倡议组织(National Corridors Initiative)主席詹姆斯·P·里帕斯(James P. RePass)。该组织位于波士顿，提倡联邦和私人增加对铁路项目投资。里帕斯表示，他以前对磁悬浮列车计划持怀疑态度，但现已改变主意。

“If you had asked me two years ago, I would have said not a chance,” Mr. RePass said. “But this proposal, which seemed unlikely in the past, is gaining credibility. The reason is that unlike a lot of projects, this one actually has money.”

“如果两年前问我，我会说根本不可能，”里帕斯说。“但过去看似不太可能的这个提议，现在越来越可信。原因在于，不同于许多项目，这一个实际上自带资金。”

Mr. Daschle, who heads the advisory board for Northeast Maglev, dismisses concerns about the maglev technology.

东北磁悬浮公司顾问委员会主席达施勒驳斥了对磁悬浮技术的担忧。

“You can’t be a skeptic on the technological side anymore, because it’s been shown to work,” he said after his ride on the train.

“你无法再在技术方面质疑了，因为它已经被证明是可行的，”他在试坐完磁悬浮列车后说。

Mr. Rogers said the company was moving ahead with its plans: It has filed an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission to transfer the franchise rights of the defunct Washington Baltimore & Annapolis railroad to Northeast Maglev, the first step in getting the project off the ground. The company will need additional approvals from the Surface Transportation Board and the Federal Railroad Administration. Without the transfer of the franchise rights, the company would have to ask the Maryland General Assembly to approve a new franchise agreement, a process that could take years.

罗杰斯表示，公司正在推进自己的计划：它已向马里兰州公共服务委员会(Maryland Public Service Commission)递交了申请，请求将现已停止服务的华盛顿至巴尔的摩再到安纳波利斯铁路的特许经营权转让给东北磁悬浮公司。这是启动项目的第一步。公司另外还需获得地面运输委员会(Surface Transportation Board)和联邦铁路管理局(Federal Railroad Administration)的批准。如果不能通过转让获得特许经营权，公司将不得不提请马里兰州议会批准一项新的特许经营协议。这一步可能需要花费数年时间。

“We can’t wait around until political and financial conditions are perfect,” Mr. Rogers said. “The transportation infrastructure on the Northeast Corridor is in bad shape. We need to get moving.”

“我们不能一直等到政治和财务状况都完备，”罗杰斯说。“目前东北走廊的运输基础设施状况很糟糕。我们需要行动起来。”