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

譯者: Chen Chi-An 審譯者: Helen Chang

It was the dawn of 1863,

1863 年清晨，

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

世界上第一條， 倫敦尚未啟用的地鐵系統

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

讓整個城市一片譁然。

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

在城市底下挖個洞，然後放進鐵軌，

seemed the stuff of dreams.

似乎是天方夜譚。

Pub drinkers scoffed at the idea

酒吧常客嘲笑這想法，

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

一名當地官員指控鐵路公司 試圖打開地獄之門。

Most people simply thought the project,

多數人只是覺得這個耗費

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

折合今日超過一億美金的計畫

would never work.

不會成功。

But it did.

可是它成功了。

On January 10, 1863,

1863 年 1 月 10 日，

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

三萬人鼓起勇氣走進地下， 搭乘世界最早的地鐵，

on a four-mile stretch of line in London.

一條倫敦四英里長的路線。

After three years of construction and a few setbacks,

建造三年及經歷一些挫折後，

the Metropolitan Railway was ready for business.

大都會鐵路準備開展生意，

The city’s officials were much relieved.

市府官員鬆了口氣，

They’d been desperate to find a way

他們急著要找到方法

to reduce the terrible congestion on the roads.

減緩路上嚴重的堵塞問題。

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

當時世界最大且最繁榮的城市倫敦

was in a permanent state of gridlock,

處於困局中：

with carts,

手拉車、

costermongers,

蔬果販、

cows,

牛

and commuters jamming the roads.

和通勤者一起塞在路上。

It’d been a Victorian visionary, Charles Pearson,

查爾斯．皮爾遜是維多利亞時代 一位有遠見的人，

who first thought of putting railways under the ground.

他是首位想到讓鐵路 在地下運行的人。

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

在 1840 年代，他遊說眾人 地下火車的點子，

but opponents thought the idea was impractical

但反對者覺得這點子不實際，

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

因為當時鐵路只在經過 山丘時有短隧道。

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

該怎麽做出穿過市中心的鐵路？

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

答案是一個很簡單的系統， 稱為「切割和覆蓋」。

Workers had to dig a huge trench,

工人要挖出一個巨大的地溝，

construct a tunnel out of brick archways,

用磚造拱門做出一個隧道，

and then refill the hole over the newly built tunnel.

最後重填含有隧道的地溝。

Because this was disruptive

因為這是破壞性的，

and required the demolition of buildings above the tunnels,

並且需要拆除隧道上的建築，

most of the line went under existing roads.

大多數的路線都依循既存馬路。

Of course, there were accidents.

當然，過程有意外。

On one occasion, a heavy rainstorm flooded the nearby sewers

其中一件是，一場暴雨 淹沒附近的排水溝，

and burst through the excavation,

然後蔓延，突破了挖掘工程，

delaying the project by several months.

使得計畫延遲了數月。

But as soon as the Metropolitan Railway opened,

但當大都會鐵路開始營運，

Londoners rushed in to ride the new trains.

倫敦人爭相使用新的鐵路系統，

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

「大都會」很快成為倫敦 交通系統的重要角色。

Additional lines were soon built,

其他路線很快開始建造，

and new suburbs grew around the stations.

新郊區在地鐵站附近開始發展，

Big department stores opened next to the railroad,

大型百貨公司在地鐵沿線開幕，

and the railway company even created attractions,

鐵路公司甚至創造新景點，

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

像伯爵府一座三十層樓高的 摩天輪，遊客由地鐵運來。

Within 30 years,

三十年間，

London’s subway system covered 80 kilometers,

倫敦地鐵總長度 80 公里，

with lines in the center of town running in tunnels,

市中心的路線在地下，

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

而郊區的則在平面，通常沿著堤岸。

But London was still growing,

但倫敦仍在成長，

and everyone wanted to be connected to the system.

且所有人都想被地鐵網連結。

By the late 1880s,

到了 1880 晚期，

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

這個城市變得太壅擠， 有太多大樓、下水道及電纜，

for the "cut and cover" technique,

「切割和覆蓋」不再實用，

so a new system had to be devised.

因此必須設計新方法。

Using a machine called the Greathead Shield,

使用一種稱為巨盾的機器，

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

只要 12 人的團隊， 就可以鑽鑿土壤，

carving deep underground tunnels through the London clay.

在倫敦底下的泥土建造地底隧道。

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

這些新路線被稱為「管子」， 深度各不相同，

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

但通常比用「切割和覆蓋」的 路線深 25 公尺，

This meant their construction didn’t disturb the surface,

這表示建造時不會影響地表，

and it was possible to dig under buildings.

且可以在建物底下挖掘。

The first tube line, the City and South London,

第一條管線是城市及南倫敦線，

opened in 1890 and proved so successful

1890 年開幕，大大成功，

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

所以接下來 20 年中建造了 六十幾條新路線，

This clever new technology was even used to burrow several lines

這聰明的新技術甚至被用來 挖掘倫敦泰晤士河下的幾條路線。

under London’s river, the Thames.

By the early 20th century,

20 世紀早期，

Budapest,

布達佩斯、

Berlin,

柏林、

Paris,

and New York

巴黎

和紐約

had all built subways of their own.

都各自建造了地鐵，

And today, with more than 160 cities in 55 countries

今日，超過 55 個國家的 160 個城市

using underground rails to combat congestion,

使用地下鐵路系統對抗壅塞，

we can thank Charles Pearson and the Metropolitan Railway

人們要感謝查爾斯．皮爾遜 和大都會鐵路

for getting us started on the right track.

使我們走上正軌。