Английский язык. Жесткова М.В - 127 стр.

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127
[11] СHINESE RAILWAYS
Railway construction began in China late in the 19th century, and the first line, between
Shanghai and Peking (Beijing), was opened in 1903. By World War II more than 15,500 miles
(25,000 kilometers) of track had been built, primarily in the eastern and northeastern parts of the
country. Much of the network was destroyed during the war, but rail construction began anew after
1949 and has continued ever since. By 1993 China had an estimated 43,131 miles (69,412
kilometers) of railroads. (By comparison, the United States had about three times as much trackage
in that year.) By 1983 every province-level administrative unit except Tibet was served by rail, and
plans were being made to extend a line south from the Lanzhou-UrUmqi line to Lhasa, in Tibet.
Railways have become the most important form of transportation in China. For example, more
than 50 percent of the country’s traffic is moved by the railroad system. China’s rail network
consists of a series of north-south trunk lines, crossed by a few major east-west lines. Most of the
large cities are served by these trunk lines. But many of the main lines cannot meet the demand for
service. The sixth five-year plan (1981 to 1985) called for continued large investment in railways.
The investment was used to improve the carrying capacity of existing lines through double tracking
or electrification, and to construct short lines where the government decided there was a crucial need
for service.
Nowadays much attention is paid to the development of high speed railway transportation.
Unexpected growth of air and road transport has hit the railways hard. The Chinese Minister of
Railways has noted that during the ‘good old days’ such things as customer service and fast, reliable
trains didn’t matter too much. “The timetable was fixed and we had nothing to worry about but
watching passengers struggling for tickets,” he said. “But today we have to go out and look for food
like horses.”
Worldwide, high speed trains moving at 250 km/h or more operate over 3,700 km of specially-
built track, while passenger trains in Chine still mainly run at 80-100 km/h. The situation needs to
change and change quickly if railways in the world’s most populous
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country are to continue to play
their important social and economic role. In recognition of this, China is planning several thousand
kilometers of new lines in order to transport 1.5 billion passengers and 2.1 billion tones of freight a
year. Specific plans have been drawn up to upgrade the busiest main lines for semi-express
passenger trains running at 160 km/h, or express trains moving at 250 km/h, while at the same time
experiments are going ahead for 300 to 350 km/h operation.
So, despite a drift away from passenger train travel by some people, there is no possibility of
railways in China becoming obsolete. The country is vast and still developing which means that the
railways are and will remain the chief means of transport.
Note
:
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populous - густонаселённый
[12] JAPANESE TRANSPORTATION
Modern transportation facilities
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link all parts of Japan and provide the swift, efficient
movement of people and goods. Railways are the main form of land transportation. Railway stations
are the hubs
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of mass-transportation systems, which also include buses, taxis, subways, and the
vanishing trolleys.
The first Japanese railway was laid in 1872 between Tokyo and Yokohama. By 1930 a rail
network covered the four main islands. Most private lines were nationalized in 1906 and passed to a
public corporation, the Japan National Railways (JNR), in 1949. The JNR operates about four fifths
of Japan's 17,000 miles (27,000 kilometers) of railway lines, including all long-distance trunk lines.
It owns about 90 percent of all rolling stock. The private railways operate commuter lines in the
metropolitan areas. Japanese railways use narrow-gauge track – 3 feet 6 inches – and relatively
small and light rolling stock. About three fifths of the JNR lines are double-tracked or electrified.
Diesel and electric units have replaced coal-burning locomotives.

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