All aboard the China-to-London freight train
By Jonathan Josephs Business reporter, BBC News 18 January 2017
It's not on a boat, it's not on a plane, it's on a train. The newest way to
send your freight from China to Europe involves spending 15 days on a train
that doesn't have a buffet car in sight.
經由鐵路運送貨物從中國到歐洲是最新的一種方法，需要15天但沒有餐車
※譯註：還是會有中國乘客自備食物上車地
On 3 January in Yiwu in eastern China, a bright orange locomotive pulling 44
containers laden with suitcases, clothes and an assortment of household goods
set off on a 7,500-mile (12,000km) journey to western Europe.
1/3從義烏市載著44箱裝滿行李的列車啟程，橫越12000公里來到西歐
※ (浙江)
Ten containers were taken off at the German cargo hub of Duisburg. The rest
made up the first cargo train from China to arrive in London at Barking's
Eurohub freight terminal.
十個箱子在德國杜伊斯堡卸下，剩下的到倫敦
London is the 15th European city to find its way on to the ever-expanding map
of destinations for China's rail cargo. Last year, 1,702 freight trains made
the voyage to Europe, more than double the 2015 figure.
倫敦是中國列車擴張版圖下第15個到達的城市。去年有1702輛火車到達歐洲，這個數量比
起2105還要多兩倍多
Yiwu Timex Industrial Investments, which is running this service with China's
state-run railways, says prices are half that of air cargo and cut two weeks
off the journey time by sea.
義烏時代工業投資公司（Timex Industrial Investments）與中國國營鐵路公司合作，表
示價格是航空貨運量的一半，海運時間減少了兩週。
Market demand 市場需求
The UK's biggest supermarket, Tesco, doesn't have any goods on this
particular train but does use rail to carry toys, electrical goods, homeware
and clothing from China to European rail hubs such as Bratislava in Slovakia
and Krasnaje in Belarus.
英國最大的超市Tesco在這條列車上沒有任何貨物，但使用軌道將玩具，電子產品，家居
用品和服裝從中國運往歐洲鐵路樞紐，如斯洛伐克的布拉迪斯拉發和白俄羅斯的Krasnaje
。
Alistair Lindsay, Tesco's head of global logistics, says the supermarket
prefers shipping its goods because this is the most environmentally friendly
way, as well as offering the best value for money, but that "where we need to
move products quicker we have that option to do it by rail".
Tesco全球物流部主管Alistair Lindsay表示，超市更喜歡運輸貨物，因為這是最環保的
方式，同時提供最佳的性價比，而“我們需要更快地搬運產品，我們可以選擇鐵路“。
This decision would normally be driven by customer demand for particular
products, he says.
他說這個決定通常是由客戶對特定產品的需求驅動的。
It demonstrates how market demand and the realities of globalisation are
increasingly allowing China's President Xi Jinping to realise his ambitious
plan to revive the ancient Silk Road.
它展示了市場需求和全球化的日益增長，使得中國國家主席習近平得以實現其恢復古代絲
綢之路的雄心勃勃的計劃。
Trade route 貿易路線
For centuries the fabled trade route from the ancient capital of Xian
provided a link to the bustling markets of European cities such as Istanbul
and Venice.
幾個世紀以來，來自西安的古都的傳說中的貿易路線提供了與歐洲城市，如伊斯坦布爾和
威尼斯的繁華市場的鏈接。
In the 21st Century China has become the world's biggest exporter, with the
export of goods totalling $2.28 trillion (￡1.85tn) in 2015.
在21世紀，中國已經成為世界上最大的出口國，2015年出口商品總額為2.28萬億美元（
1.85萬億英鎊）。
This rail expansion is part of President Xi's "One Belt, One Road" (OBOR)
trade policy. For Beijing it offers another way to sustain its economic
growth.
這條鐵路擴張是習主席"一帶一路"貿易政策的一部分。對於北京，它提供了另一種方式來
維持其經濟增長。
Kazakhstan is one of the countries on the route and it was there that Mr Xi
first outlined his vision in a speech in 2013 saying, "This will be a great
undertaking benefiting the people of all countries along the route."
哈薩克斯坦是路線上的其中一個國家，在那裡，習近平先生在2013年的一次演講中首次概
述了他的願景，“這將是一個惠及沿線所有國家人民的偉大事業。
Extolling the virtues of globalisation was a theme he repeated again at Davos
this week.
吹捧全球化的美德是他本週在達沃斯再次重申的主題。
For some, this is as much political as economic, offering Beijing the chance
to project soft power as well as demonstrating it has the influence to thread
disparate nations from Russia to Spain together.
對於一些人來說，這是政治上的經濟，提供北京的機會，以展示軟實力，以及表明它有影
響，把不同的國家從俄羅斯到西班牙在一起。
"[OBOR] is set to become Xi Jinping's grand legacy," says Dr Sam Beatson, of
King's College London.
“一路一帶將成為習近平的偉大遺產，”倫敦國王學院的Sam Beatson博士說。
"Regardless of the returns on offer... the policies will continue to be
pushed as a means of seeking to fulfil Xi's dream under his leadership."
不管提供什麼回報......這些政策將繼續作為在他的領導下謀求實現習近平夢想的手段
Reduced emissions 減少排放
One of the other legacies President Xi is trying to tackle is China's
pollution problem. While rail cargo is not as green as sea transport it emits
less carbon dioxide (CO2) than air travel.
習主席的另一個遺留問題是中國的污染問題。雖然鐵路運送不如海運那樣綠色，但其
排放的二氧化碳比空運少。
This is the "first argument when trying to get our customers to re-evaluate
their options", says Johan Ignell, rail freight manager at Swedish cargo firm
Greencarrier.
瑞典貨運公司Greencarrier的鐵路貨運經理Johan Ignell說：這是試圖讓我們的客戶重新
評估他們的選擇的第一個論點
It calculates that a 40ft (12m) container with 20 tonnes of cargo would
account for just 4% of the CO2 emissions it would take to move it by air
(though emissions would be more than halved again if it were moved by sea).
它計算出，具有20噸貨物的40英尺（12米）集裝箱將佔用通過空氣移動它所需的二氧化碳
排放量的4％（儘管如果它被海運移動，則排放量將再次減少一半）。
Freight transport accounts for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions,
but it is "fraught with difficulty" to compare emissions from different
transport modes, says Prof Alan McKinnon of Germany's Kuehne Logistics
University.
德國Kuehne物流大學的Alan McKinnon教授說，貨運佔全球溫室氣體排放量的7％左右，但
比較不同運輸模式的排放是“充滿困難”。
Prof McKinnon, one of the authors of a 2014 report by the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), says "load factor, energy efficiency and
power sources all make a difference and can be hard to ascertain".
政府間氣候變化專門委員會（IPCC）2014年報告的作者之一，McKinnon教授說，“負載因
子，能源效率和電源都有所不同，很難確定”。
He adds: "While shifting air cargo to rail will certainly cut emissions,
container shipping will continue to command a significant carbon advantage
over transcontinental rail, particularly now that most vessels are slow
steaming to save fuel."
他補充說：“將航空貨物轉移到鐵路將會減少排放，集裝箱航運將繼續控制跨越大陸軌道
的碳排放優勢，特別是現在大多數船舶都是慢蒸汽以節省燃料。
There is also a business case for this emerging trade route to grow. Not
least among European companies looking to export to China.
還有一個商業案例，這個新興的貿易路線增長。最重要的是希望出口到中國的歐洲公司。
At the moment there are no plans to run a return train service from London
but that could change quickly. China is already the European Union's second
biggest export market - though there is an EU trade deficit in goods of about
$190bn.
目前，沒有計劃從倫敦經營回程火車服務，但這可能改變很快。中國已經是歐盟第二大出
口市場 - 儘管歐盟貿易赤字約為190億美元。
Growth potential 增長潛力
For UK companies facing up to the reality of Brexit, China is an attractive
proposition and the train carries new opportunities.
對於面臨Brexit現實的英國公司，中國是一個有吸引力的建議，火車帶來新的機會。
Brand Avenue is a company that already exports British-made goods including
cosmetics and jewellery to China, and chief executive Jody Jacobs says he's
exploring moving to rail.
品牌大道是一家已經向中國出口包括化妝品和珠寶在內的英國製造商品的公司，首席執行
官Jody Jacobs說他正在探索向鐵路運輸。
"We deal a lot in goods which weigh a lot in comparison to their volume
[which is] where airfreight becomes expensive, such as cosmetics and baby
food.
“我們處理了很多貨物，它們的重量相比，它們的空間貨物昂貴，比如化妝品和嬰兒食品
的體積。
"So for us a service which is quicker than sea and cheaper than air is a
great middle ground."
“所以對我們來說，比海更快，比空中更便宜的服務是一個偉大的中間地帶。
For established cargo companies rail also offers the potential for growth.
Shipping lines have seen profits fall because of overcapacity attributed to
the aftermath of the global financial crisis.
對於成立的貨運公司，鐵路也提供了增長的潛力。由於全球金融危機的後果導致產能過剩
，航運公司的利潤下降。
The world's biggest shipping company, Maersk, told the BBC it is
investigating "possible opportunities" in long-distance rail, though it sees
them as supplementary to sea and air routes.
世界上最大的航運公司馬士基告訴英國廣播公司，它正在調查長途鐵路的“可能的機會”
，雖然它認為它們是海運和航空路線的補充。
China is planning another 20 European routes for rail freight, and with the
world's demand for consumer goods continuing to grow, all the ingredients
seem to be there for rail to help the global economy steam ahead in 2017 and
beyond.
中國正在計劃另外20條歐洲鐵路運輸線路，隨著世界對消費品的需求持續增長，所有的變數
似乎都存在於鐵路上，以幫助全球經濟在2017年及以後前進。
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