How the world's first metro system was built - Christian Wolmar

翻译人员: Yingyu Liu 校对人员: Lipeng Chen

It was the dawn of 1863,

1863 年伊始，

and London’s not-yet-opened subway system,

伦敦尚未通车的全世界第一条地铁线路

the first of its kind in the world, had the city in an uproar.

使整个城市哗然。

Digging a hole under the city and putting a railroad in it

在城市底下打洞并且安装轨道

seemed the stuff of dreams.

是不可想象的事情。

Pub drinkers scoffed at the idea

酒吧里的常客取笑这种想法，

and a local minister accused the railway company of trying to break into hell.

当地的牧师指责地铁开发公司在自掘坟墓。

Most people simply thought the project,

大多数人认为这个耗资过亿美元的的项目

which cost more than 100 million dollars in today’s money,

would never work.

绝对不会成功。

But it did.

然而，它却成功了。

On January 10, 1863,

在 1863 年 1 月 10 日，

30,000 people ventured underground to travel on the world’s first subway

三万人在伦敦地下试乘了

四英里长的世界上第一条地下铁路。

on a four-mile stretch of line in London.

After three years of construction and a few setbacks,

在历经三年施工和不少挫折之后，

the Metropolitan Railway was ready for business.

大都会铁路即将正式投入运营。

The city’s officials were much relieved.

市领导们非常欣慰。

They’d been desperate to find a way

他们已想尽办法尝试减少道路交通拥堵。

to reduce the terrible congestion on the roads.

London, at the time the world’s largest and most prosperous city,

伦敦作为当时世界上最大最繁荣的城市，

was in a permanent state of gridlock,

正处于一种长期交通瘫痪的状态。

with carts,

马车、

costermongers,

街边小贩、

cows,

牛、

and commuters jamming the roads.

以及日常通勤的人，

让道路变得异常拥挤。

It’d been a Victorian visionary, Charles Pearson,

维多利亚地空想家查尔斯·皮尔森

who first thought of putting railways under the ground.

第一个想到将铁路挪到地下。

He’d lobbied for underground trains throughout the 1840s,

他在 1840 年代间不停游说当局开建地下铁路。

but opponents thought the idea was impractical

然而，他的反对者认为这个想法是不切实际的。

since the railroads at the time only had short tunnels under hills.

因为当时的铁路短到仅仅能够穿过山洞，

How could you get a railway through the center of a city?

怎么可能修建可以穿过城市中心的铁路呢？

The answer was a simple system called "cut and cover."

问题的答案很简单，那就是：明挖回填技术

Workers had to dig a huge trench,

工人们需要挖出巨大的壕，

construct a tunnel out of brick archways,

然后用砖块进行进行封顶，

and then refill the hole over the newly built tunnel.

而后对沟壑进行回填。

Because this was disruptive

由于此种方法是对路面是破坏式的，

and required the demolition of buildings above the tunnels,

且需要损毁地上的建筑物，

most of the line went under existing roads.

大多数地铁线埋藏于已建成的城市道路之下。

Of course, there were accidents.

当然，事故也时有发生。

On one occasion, a heavy rainstorm flooded the nearby sewers

曾经有一次，大暴雨冲毁了附近的污水池，

and burst through the excavation,

污水填满挖好的沟壑，

delaying the project by several months.

导致施工进度推迟了数月。

But as soon as the Metropolitan Railway opened,

然而，当大都会地铁投入运营时，

Londoners rushed in to ride the new trains.

伦敦人争相体验这些新的地铁。

The Metropolitan quickly became a vital part of London’s transport system.

大都会地铁很快成为了 伦敦交通枢纽的重要组成部分。

Additional lines were soon built,

新的地铁线路很快建成起来，

and new suburbs grew around the stations.

新的乡镇在地铁站周围孕育而生。

Big department stores opened next to the railroad,

大型购物中心也在地铁站旁边林立，

and the railway company even created attractions,

地铁公司甚至在地铁站周边打造娱乐设施，

like a 30-story Ferris wheel in Earls Court to bring in tourists by train.

比如在伯爵宫建造了三十层高的摩天轮，

以吸引游客乘地铁来游玩。

Within 30 years,

三十年间，伦敦地铁系统延伸至80公里。

London’s subway system covered 80 kilometers,

with lines in the center of town running in tunnels,

地铁在城市中心区为地下铁路，

and suburban trains operating on the surface, often on embankments.

到郊区则为建在堤坝上的地上线路。

But London was still growing,

然而，伦敦仍在不断壮大，

and everyone wanted to be connected to the system.

每个人都希望和地铁系统连接上。

By the late 1880s,

十九世纪八十年代末，

the city had become too dense with buildings, sewers, and electric cables

伦敦因楼房、污水管、 和电缆外露而变得过于拥挤，

for the "cut and cover" technique,

原因是明挖回填技术。

so a new system had to be devised.

因此，人们需要设计新的设备。

Using a machine called the Greathead Shield,

运用大头盾构机，

a team of just 12 workers could bore through the earth,

只要12名工人组成的团队就可以

carving deep underground tunnels through the London clay.

在伦敦的地下深处挖掘隧道。

These new lines, called tubes, were at varying depths,

这些新建的地铁线叫做管道，

它们的深度不同， 但通常比明挖回填的隧道深25米。

but usually about 25 meters deeper than the "cut and cover" lines.

This meant their construction didn’t disturb the surface,

这意味着它们的建造不会对地表造成影响，

and it was possible to dig under buildings.

也就是说，可以在建筑物下面进行挖掘。

The first tube line, the City and South London,

第一条深层隧道地铁线名为：城市及南伦敦铁路

opened in 1890 and proved so successful

在 1890 年投入运营，并大获成功。

that half a dozen more lines were built in the next 20 years.

近十条地铁线路在接下来的二十年间陆续建成。

This clever new technology was even used to burrow several lines

这项革命性的新技术甚至被用于挖掘

几条从伦敦泰晤士河下经过的地铁线。

under London’s river, the Thames.

By the early 20th century,

二十世纪初期，

Budapest,

布达佩斯特、

Berlin,

柏林、

Paris,

and New York

巴黎、

和纽约

had all built subways of their own.

都建成了城市地铁线路。

And today, with more than 160 cities in 55 countries

今天 55 个国家的 160 多座城市

using underground rails to combat congestion,

利用地下铁路线来应对地上交通堵塞。

we can thank Charles Pearson and the Metropolitan Railway

我们应该谢谢查尔斯·皮尔森和伦敦大都会铁路

for getting us started on the right track.

让我们走上这条光明的大道！