【卫报】火车晚点丨第6期

Here's a shocking fact for those of you who (like me) shivered on freezing platforms when their train was cancelled or delayed over the so-called festive period. The train operating companies can actually make a nice little profit out of your distress, so they have almost no incentive to improve the service.

（期待您的翻译，明天会有针对这句话的长难句解析哟~） 事实上，火车运营公司能因为你的窘境获利不菲，所以，他们几乎没有动力来改善其服务。

As you get ready to fork out £5,000-plus for an annual season ticket on a 40-mile journey into work on a train built 30 years ago, which arrives at your destination on time approximately every solar eclipse, consider this: train operators receive a "schedule 8" payment from Network Rail when something goes wrong with the infrastructure, such as a points failure. It is designed to compensate them for the impact of poor performance on their revenue. It is estimated that last year train operators picked up £107m from Network Rail for delays. But how much was paid out to the customers who were the victims of these problems? Just £26m. It means the train operating companies profited by some £81m because something went wrong.

当你预备为每个季度的车票支付5000多英镑，且是在一辆30年前建造的火车上度过40英里的工作旅途，这辆车的准点到达次数大概和日全食一样罕见时，想想这些：在基础设施发生故障时，火车运营者收到一个附件八的付款，比如信号点故障。其目的是为不良行为对运营商收益造成的影响进行补偿。据估计，去年，火车运营商收到了英国铁路公司10.7千万英镑的晚点赔偿。但是，又有多少是支付给这些问题真正的受害方消费者的呢？仅有2.6千万英镑。这意味着火车运营公司由于这些故障获益8.1千万英镑。

• fork out 支付；放弃
  

Even the long-running industrial action on the Southern network is barely touching profits at GTR, the operating company that runs the routes. Its unique contract, put in place to cover the period while London Bridge station is rebuilt, means fares are currently paid directly to the government. The taxpayer will foot the bill for the estimated £28m in lost revenue and millions more in Delay Repay compensation. Meanwhile the government pays GTR £1bn a year to run the service.

GTR是一家经营运营线路的公司，甚至因为南部网络的长期劳工行动，几乎没有产生利润。其独特的合同，制定时包括伦敦桥站重建的期间，意味着票费目前直接支付给政府。纳税人将为估计£2800万的收入损失和数以百万计的晚点赔偿金掏腰包了。与此同时，政府还付给GTR公司10亿欧元的运营服务费用。

Southern's Delay Repay scheme has been improved, but is still far from adequate. As of this month rail users delayed 15 minutes or more can obtain 25% of the single fare back, rising to 50% if the delay is 30 minutes or longer. But the money only goes to those who apply - the majority don't. Less than 0.5% of GTR's turnover is paid out in compensation; across the industry only one third of eligible passengers obtain a payout.

南部的延误赔偿计划有所改善，但仍远远不够。截至本月铁路用户延误15分钟以上可获得单程票价的25%费用赔偿，若延误30分钟或更长则上升至50%。但这些钱仅申请的人们能得到，大多数人没有。少于GTR 0.5%的营业额用来支付补偿金；整个行业只有三分之一符合条件的旅客获得赔偿。

The simple solution is re-nationalisation. Even diehard opponents of state ownership must feel shamed by the shambles our train network has become - as evidenced by the personal stories we highlight in today's Money. But re-nationalisation will not in itself incentivise the rail operator to run trains on time and with enough seats (although it would go some way to help).

最简单的解决方法是重新国有化。实际上公有制的顽固对手必须为列车网络已形成的混乱局面而感到羞耻，这一点从我们在今天的 Money栏目中强调的个人故事可证实。但重新国有化本身并不会刺激铁路运营商准点运行火车和有足够的席位（尽管它会有所帮助）。

The Tory MP for the deep-blue Conservative commuting territory of East Worthing and Shoreham, has come up with a plan he hopes will give the private train companies a kick up the backside, and has won support from other MPs, such as Caroline Lucas, the Green MP for  Caroline Lucas, whose constituents know a thing or two about train delays.

东沃辛和萧勒姆深蓝保守通勤地域的托利党下院议员 Tim Loughton提出一项计划，他希望对私人火车公司不予理会，且此计划已经赢得了其他议员的支持，比如  Caroline Lucas 的Caroline Lucas ，他的选民对火车晚点略知一二。

Loughton wants the train companies to be forced to pay a penalty fine every time a train is late, is cancelled, or overruns a station. The money would go into a central pot, entirely independent of the train company, from which passengers should be able to claim very easily. If passengers don't claim compensation (sometimes it can be just a few quid) then the remaining money would be used to offset fares.

Loughton希望强制火车公司每次晚点、取消或在站点超量都要支付其罚款。这类资金将进入一个中间点，与火车公司完全独立存在，使乘客的索赔变得容易。如果乘客不索要赔偿（有时可能只有一英镑），剩余的钱将用于抵消票价。

He is also proposing a new rail ombudsman with the power to award compensation more directly linked to the realistic loss suffered by passengers. When you are turfed off a train far short of your destination the cost of getting home is far more than the repayment of the single fare. Transport Focus, the body for consumers, has no power to impose binding decisions against train operators. As Loughton says: "The current problem is that the passenger can like it or lump it. The complaints procedure largely relies on the goodwill of the train operating company beyond the minimum obligations."

他还提议任命一位新的列车视察员，其有权将赔偿直接给予乘客遭受的相关的实际损失。当你乘坐了一趟火车没有到达目的地，且你回家的成本远远高于单程票价。关注的重点在于，消费者本身并无力实施约束性的决定来对抗火车运营商。如Loughton所言，“现在的问题在于乘客可以赞赏或是指责。投诉过程很大程度上依赖于火车公司的美好愿景且超过其最低程度的义务。”

Unfortunately Loughton's bill was introduced under the 10-minute rule and without official government support will go nowhere. That said, prime minister Theresa May hails from Eastbourne, which suffers a craptacular rail service. So there's hope yet.