A new high-speed train has been rolled out by China, one specifically designed to serve the “premium logistics market”. While tempting to wonder at why our parcels deserve such royal treatment, the move is a decidedly sensible one to serve the explosive e-commerce sector.
中国推出了一种新型高速列车，专门为服务“优质物流市场”而设计。虽然人们很想知道为什么我们的包裹应该受到如此皇室般的待遇，但对于服务于爆炸性的电子商务领域来说，此举绝对是明智的。
Last year, for the Double 11 shopping festival, a high-speed train was repurposed to enable even-more timely delivery of customers’ orders. Its seats were taken out and 40 tonnes of crates and parcels were secured inside by belting.
去年双11期间，高铁改造，让顾客的订单能够更及时送达。其座椅被拆除，40 吨的板条箱和包裹被安全带固定在里面。
The coronavirus epicentre of Wuhan was chosen as destination for the test run, with the train taking its payload from Beijing to Hankou in just 5 hours.
此次试运行的目的地是新冠肺炎疫情中心武汉，列车从北京到汉口仅需 5 个小时。
This laid the groundwork for rolling stock manufacturer, CRRC Tangshan in Hebei Province, to get cracking on a new model of high-speed train which recently came off the production line.
这为轨道交通车辆制造商河北省中车唐山公司即将下线的新型高速列车奠定了基础。
To facilitate loading, the train’s passenger doors have been replaced with pairs of doors that together are 1.8 metres wide.
为了方便装载，列车的乘客门已更换为两对宽 1.8 米的车门。
Like aircraft, the train is equipped with a remote-controlled roller floor, which can accurately position standardised freight containers so that they occupy up to 85 percent of the total floor area. With 800 square metres of available space, the train can carry up top 120 tonnes of freight, reports Railway Gazette.
与飞机一样，列车配备了遥控滚轮地板，可以精确定位标准化货运集装箱，使其占据总地板面积的85%。据《铁路公报》报道，该列车可用空间达 800 平方米，最多可运载 120 吨货物。
Being able to operate at up to 350 km/h, the new high-speed freight trains shall be utilised on medium and long-distance routes of between 600 km and 1,500 km.
新型高速货运列车的运行速度可达350公里/小时，将用于600公里至1500公里的中长途线路。
Why are High-Speed Freight Trains a Smart Move?
为什么高速货运列车是明智之举？
With express courier services having taken over from brick and mortar retail in the post-COVID era, so China’s consumers expect their deliveries to arrive sooner and sooner.
在后疫情时代，快递服务已经取代了实体零售，因此中国消费者期望他们的货物能够越来越快地到达。
Their tastes are becoming more esoteric too; if people are able to order fresh local delicacies from the other side of the country hitherto unavailable to them, they will do so.
他们的品味也变得更加深奥。如果人们能够从该国的另一边订购迄今为止无法获得的新鲜的当地美食，他们就会这样做。
High-Speed Freight Trains are also the environmentally-friendly option, as the airline industry battles commitments to reduce emissions.
由于航空业正在努力兑现减少排放的承诺，高速货运列车也是一种环保选择。
Then there is the weather. Flights are delayed on a continuous basis but China’s high speed trains are renowned for their down-to-the-minute timing.
然后是天气。航班连续延误，但中国的高铁以其精确到分钟的时刻而闻名。
And they are a lot cheaper to operate than aircraft.
而且它们的运营成本比飞机便宜得多。
Feng Hao, of the National Development & Reform Commission’s Institute of Comprehensive Transportation, was reported as saying, “[High-speed freight trains] will be the next growth point for China’s railway transport equipment sector”.
据报道，国家发改委综合交通研究所冯浩表示，“[高铁]将成为中国铁路运输装备行业的下一个增长点”。
CRRC is the world’s largest rolling stock manufacturer with plants all over China, producing locomotives and rolling stock for both traditional rail and mass urban transit systems. Its subsidiary in Nanjing, CRRC Nanjing Puzhen, has made trains for metro systems in Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Hefei and many more cities, and even for as far away as Mumbai in India. CRRC also operates two plants in the USA; in Illinois and Massachusetts.
中国中车是全球最大的机车车辆制造商，工厂遍布中国，为传统铁路和城市轨道交通系统生产机车和机车车辆。其南京子公司中车南京浦镇公司已为南京、上海、杭州、合肥等城市的地铁系统生产列车，甚至远至印度孟买。中国中车还在美国运营着两家工厂；在伊利诺伊州和马萨诸塞州。
