Frow the History of transport

Shillibeer - название фирмы

 

Today we travel from one place to another quite easily. But for thousands of years, people had to walk or travel in horse-drawn carriages.

In 1829 Shillibeer started the first bus service in Lon­don. The bus introduced by Shillibeer looked like a large car­riage.

Everybody knows that the English buses are of red colour and are very high, as they are double-decked buses. But the up­per deck of the early buses had no roof. The passengers were given raincoats to put on if it started to rain.

In 1885 the Londoners saw the first petrol engine buses. In 1919 they achieved aspeed of 12 mph.

As to the first important passenger railway in England it was the Liverpool and Manchester Railway. In 1829 the company offered a prize for the best steam locomotive for this rail­way. The prize was won by George Stephenson who built a success­ful steam locomotive which he called the "Rocket". The inven­tion of the steam locomotives made the railway the most impor­tant of all means of transportation.

Today people use electric and diesel traction on their railways because electric and diesel trains attain a very high speed.

Now London is so large that one must learn to use buses and the Underground to get about. You can get a map of the Underground railways and the bus routes at any ticket office.

London transport is the name of the largest system of passenger transport in the world. It covers an area of about 2,000 square miles. Passengers are carried by underground trains, surface trains, buses and motor coaches.

The word "Underground" across a large circle shows you where the stations are. Tickets can be bought at the booking offices. Tickets to be obtained from automatic machines are for short journeys that cost a few pence. Coins are put into a slot. The machine will even give you change. At moot stations in the busy parts of London there are moving stair case в to take you down to the platforms.

EXERCISES

I. Озаглавьте каждый из абзацев текста.

II. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. What do you know about the bus service in London?

2. What was the first important passenger railway in England?

3. Why do people use electric and diesel traction today?

4. Why must one learn to use Underground to get about London?

5. By what means of transport are passengers carried in London?

 

TEXT 8

THE LONDON UNDERGROUND

Notes to the text:

emergency situation - экстремальная ситуация

 

In 1890 the first electric, underground railway was opened for public traffic. It’s trains were hauled at a speed of 11^1/2 miles an hour by 12-ton electric locomotives.

The first electric underground railway was a great suc­cess and attracted many passengers but a more frequent service was provided when the system of signalling, was improved.

For many years of its existence London's Underground was the most popular and efficient means of public transport in the city. However, during the five years of World War II it played a far more important part in the life of England's ca­pital, than in the pre-war period.

In those hard days thousands of Londoners had to spend nights in London's Underground. Besides, many ancient books and rare collections from the British Museum spent the war in the underground tunnels. Some of the unused tunnels 5 miles in length were occupied by a factory producing airplanes.

Life for the people at the 79 stations was made as comfortable as possible. There were sleeping accommodations and a clinic at these stations. Special trains carried food to 124 canteens.

The operation of London's Underground was so perfectly organized that even in the worst days of the war it was hand­ling its normal volume of traffic during the day and was used as home by 177,000 people every night.

Great efforts were made in order to ensure a safe opera­tion of the whole system. The underground railways themselves were prepared for any emergency situation. They had duplicate control and power supply system. In order to reduce the dan­ger of flooding the tunnels near the Тhames were equipped with isolating doors. All London trains had special reduced lighting for use on the track sections running on the surface.

EXERCISES

I. Найдите в тексте абзацы, где говорится о Лондонском метро в годы Второй мировой войны.

П. Ответьте на вопросы по тексту:

1. What can you say about the first electric underground railway in London?

2. How was the London Underground used during World War II?

3. What was done to make the people's life in London's Under­ground during the five years of the war as comfortable as possible?

 

TEXT 9

ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVES

Notes to the text

up-to-date -современный

transfer lines - линии передач

analog simulation - аналоговое моделирование

 

The Soviet Union occupies the first place in the world as regards the length of its electrified lines and. volume of traffic hauled by electric locomotives (60% of the total volume of railway traffic). A large fleet of electric loco­motives serves this purpose. Every year the home industry turns out hundreds of new electric locomotives for the rail­ways of our country.

Heavy traffic on electrified railways in different cli­matic areas, including permafrost and dry hot regions; requi­res electric locomotives featuring excellent performance and high reliability which are able to haul heavy tracks and are easy to maintain.

The electric locomotives are produced at specialized electric locomotive-building works which are highly mechani­zed enterprises, furnished with automatic transfer lines uni­que complexes, up-to-date testing facilities and railway pro­ving grounds. The designers of the electric locomotives widely use in their work analog simulation, physical modelling and computers taking into account the information obtained during long and successful operation of the large fleet of electric locomotives on the last network of electrified railways in the USSR.

According to the volume of output, parameters of the elec­tric locomotives, and their diversity the Soviet electric lo­comotive building keeps abreast with any firm in the world.

High rates of growth of traffic volume require constant re-equipment of the main-line transport. The electric locomo­tive builders were faced with the problem of designing more powerful locomotives with perspective parameters to provide for considerable increase in the mass of the freight trains and throughput of the railways.

The Soviet-made electric locomotives operate advantageously under various climatic conditions: from semi-deserts to the Far North, at ambient temperatures from plus 40 to mi­nis 60 °C. To produce the locomotives suitable for such adver­se conditions new materials and complementary articles were required.

Greater consideration is given to automatic control systems for the locomotives. Automatic equipment, apart from facilitating the operating conditions of the crew, increases maximum track capacity, materially reduces labour intensity in hauling, increases the service life of the brake shoes, and offers a number of other technical and economical advantages.

EXERCISES

I.Озаглавьте 3-й и 5-й -абзацы текста.

II. Поставьте 2 вопроса к предложению:

The Soviet-made electric locomotives operate advantageously under climatic conditions: from semi-deserts to the Far North, at ambient temperatures from plus 40° to minus 60 C.

 

TEXT 9

RAIL IN BRITAIN

Notes to the text:

British Rail - Британская железная дорога

Intercity Sector - междугородный сектор "Интерсити”

Channel Tunnel - туннель под Ла-Маншем

 

То provide the British public with a better rail service at less cost, British Rail has implemented its largest investment programme for 30 years.

Britain's railway equipment manufacturers are working alongside with British Rail, developing new technology to ensure that this investment programme gives the maximum value for money.

British Rail has Intercity Sector which operates without public subsidy. Every day, over 700 Intercity trains link the main cities and towns in Britain. More than 80 million Inter-City journeys are made annually.

Intercity operates the world's fastest trains in existing tracks - achieving average speeds of 160 km/h without the mas­sive investment and environmental impact associated with high speed lines. Since 1976 Intercity services on non-electrified routes have been provided by 200 km/h diesel-powered Intercity 125 High Speed Trains. Total fleet mileage now approaches 250 million kilometers.

Today, investment in Intercity is focussed on the elect­rification of the London-Edinburgh main line. The first stage between London and Leeds was completed in 1988, with new high speed electric services inaugurated in 1989. For this project, British industry has developed a new generation of 240 km/h high speed trains.

In addition to new high speed traction and rolling stock, journey times are being reduced by new approaches to track maintenance based on investment in specialized equipment. Imp­roved ticketing and passenger information systems are being introduced at the main terminals.

British Rail and its European partners are already plan­ning the new rail services which will be introduced when the Channel Tunnel opens in 1993. A service of high speed trains will link London with Paris and Brussels. Journey times of under 3 h for London – Paris and 2 ¾ h for London- Brussels are anticipated. Through, trains will rum beyond London to major towns and cities.

 

EXERCISES

I. Читая текст, найдите абзац, в котором говорится:

а) о том, сколько пассажиров в год перевозит междугородный сектор «Интерсити»;

б) об электрификации одной из линий "Интерсити";

в) о строящемся под Ла-Маншем туннеле.

П. Выберите утверждения, соответствующие содержанию текста:

1. British Rail has implemented its largest investment programme for 100 years.

2. British Rail has Intercity Sector which operates without public subsidy.

3. Intercity transports more than 10 million passengers annually.

4. The average speed of Intercity trains is 160 km/h.

5. Today investment in Intercity is focussed on the introduc­tion of diesel traction.

6. Journey times are being reduced by the use of the new track maintenance equipment?

7. The Channel Tunnel will link London with Paris only.

8. A journey from London to Paris will take 2 ¾ h.

III. Найдите в тексте предложение, в котором говорится:

а) о пути достижения наивысшей окупаемости капиталовложений на Британских железных дорогах;

б) о скорости новых электровозов, разработанных для Интерсити.

IV. Найдите в тексте ответы на вопросы:

1. What does British Rail Want to provide the British public with?

2. How many Intercity trains link the main cities and towns of Britain?

3. What is the average speed of Intercity trains?

4. When was the first stage of electrification of the London-Edinburgh main line completed?

5. When will the Channel Tunnel open?