(1). For more than a century the railroad was the dominant form of land transportation in much of the world. It was and remains the one land carrier that can carry almost anything anywhere, and do it at cost lower than other types of land or airtraffic.
(2). Today, however, other modes of transport have been developed to the point at which they can do certain transportation jobs more effectively than the railroads. Pipelines can carry liquids and some solids over long distances economically. Airplanes, with their great speed, can carry some types of light, valuable freight at a saving. Trucks offer speed and flexibility, especially for short and medium hauls. Private automobiles, running over modern highways, and the airplanes have taken оver much passenger traffic formerly handled by rails. Modern barges, operating on improved inland waterways, can move a lot of commodities over specific routes at very low costs.
(3). Undeniably, these competitors of the railroad can do a better job on some types of transportation tasks. The development of these newer modes has changed the role of the railroad from that of the general-purpose carrier to that of a more specialized carrier. The future role of railroads will vary in different countries. In general, however, the railroad is particularly strong in the following areas:
(4)1. It is especially effective in moving large volumes of bulk commodities, such as coal, ores, chemicals and grain. When there are facilities for rapid train loading and unloading, the railroad can be competitive over short distances. In Britain, one such coal mine - to – electricity generating station operation involves a distance of only 30 miles. Railroads can also move large volumes of finished goods economically at retalively high speeds over medium to long distances.
(5) 2. The railroad can efficiently handle containers of large volumes between major centers in some countries. For this purpose, special transshipment treminals equipped for easy and rapid transfer from railcar to truck have been created. Commodities to be transferred include steel, forestry, paper products and new automobiles.
(6) 3. Railroads in the industrialized world have learnt that to compete with trucks or high-value freight, such as components for automobile industry or food for retail markets, they must not only promise fast transit times but also keep to schedule with the same precision as passenger trains
(7) 4. The railroad is the best mode of transport for moving commuter passengers between big metropolitan centers and the outlying suburban areas.
(8) 5. Very-high-speed intercity passenger services can be successful with modern equipment at medium to long distances. In Western Europe, Japan and the New York City – Washington, D.С., corridor of the USA, railroad intercity passenger business has been successfully increased due to a combination of high speed, more comfortable and smoother-riding cars and greater frequency of service. With its TGV operation, the French National Railways have proved that train can regain considerable traffic from airlines over intercity distances of up to 400 miles. There are plans to raise the distance at which air travel is powerfully challenged to 650 miles
9. In short, the railroad under modern conditions is at its best as a high-volume high-speed carrier of both passengers and freight.
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10. In looking at the future place of railroads, three other factors should be noted.
1. Railroads disturb the nature environment less than highways or air transport systems. They produce less pollutants than either automobiles or airplanes. These factors have become more significant as society increasingly concerns itself with the need to preserve the environment and to reduce air, water and noise pollution.
(11) 2. Railroads are more efficient m the use of fuel than either highway or air transportation. Concern over the best use of these resources forces many countries to place more emphasis on rail transportation.
(12) 3. While much public money has gone into technological research on the neweг forms of transportation and into constructing facilities for them. In all but a few countries relativly little has been spent to improve railroad technology and infrastructure. Thus, even the most advanced of today's railroads and services, with very few exceptions, do not represent the best that is possible from the railroad.
TEXT 5
To stretch - растянуться
Tremendous - огромный
Natural resources – природные ресурсы
High quality alloy steel – сплав высококачественной стали
Desert - пустыня
Roadless – отсутствие дорог
A route - маршрут
Sleepers - шпалы
Modern Russian Railways
1. The territory of Russia stretches across 2 continents, from the Pacific Ocean to the Baltic and Black Seas. From the east to the west the territory of our country extends over 10,000 km, and from the north to the south almost 5,000 km.
2. The tremendous area of the country, the highly developed industry and trade, the unique natural resources, determine the necessity for a widely developed transport system, including all modes of transportation.
3. Russian Railways occupy an outstanding position as great freight and passenger carrier, according for about 60 % of the country’s entire traffic and for 50 % of the world’s freight turnover.
4. Russia has the largest single railway system in the world, it’s total length being about 150,000 km. Direct passenger service is available to the capitals of many foreign countries.
5. The railway map of our country is changing all time, new lines are constantly being projected and built. These new lines cross former desert and roadless regions, far from the central parts of Russia. Intensive railway construction is going on in the Far East and Siberia.
6. Besides building new railway routes, our country has been improving and modernizing old tracks, and electrifying many trunk lines with a particularly heavy traffic. The length of the electrified railways in Russia is about 90,000 km., some of them being the longest lines in the world: the Moscow – Vladivostok Railroad (9,500 km).
7. Russian Railways are equipped with new powerful electric and diesel-electric locomotives, high speed and high capacity freight cars and passenger coaches. To increase the safety of traffic and the comfort of passenger, trains are fitted with automatic air brakes and coaches are designed to have air-conditioning systems.
8. Much attention is being paid to the improvement of track facilities. On trunk lines, 65 and 75 kg high quality alloy steel rails are laid in the track. Continuous rails, welded into strings of 700 meters and more, reinforced concrete sleepers are laid on crushed rock and gravel ballast. Over 90 million concrete sleepers have already been installed. They are 8 feet 10 inches long and 11 ¾ inches wide, their life ranges from 40 to 50 years.
9. Average traffic on Russian Railways is 25 MGT a year, reaching 176 MGT a year on the double-track Moscow – St. Petersburg railroad route. Passenger trains travel at speeds that vary from 100 to 220 km. p. h.
10. Various modern and efficient machines and mechanisms are widely employed for the track repair and maintenance. Thousands of kilometers of railways are equipped with automatic block signaling and Centralized Traffic Control (CTC). The wide use of new electronic equipment and highly efficient techniques has greatly improved track standards and reduced transport costs on Russian Railroads. Although the future belongs to the air and automobile transportation, railways are and will always remain a very popular, important and the most universal mode of transport in Russia.