Making trains run on time

Making trains run on time

IT IS A myth that, whatever his faults, Benito Mussolini, dictator of Italy in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s, made the trains run on time. He didn’t. If even a man with dictatorial powers cannot enforce a railway timetable, what hope is there in a messy democracy? In India a third of trains are held up. Seven out of ten are late during the rush hour at some of Britain’s busiest stations. Nor is the fabled reliability of Japan’s railway always what it seems, with a number of commuter lines into Tokyo experiencing hold-ups${}^1$.

myth [mɪθ] 神话

dictator [dɪkˈteɪtə®] 独裁者

democracy [dɪˈmɒkrəsi] 民主

fabled [ˈfeɪbld] 传说中的

commuter [kəˈmjuːtə®] 经远距离上下班往返

不论上世纪20至40年代的意大利独裁者贝尼托•墨索里尼(Benito Mussolini)犯了什么错，他令火车准点运行，这是一个谎言。(事实上)他没有。如果即使一个独裁者也无法使铁路时间表执行，那么混乱的民主还有什么希望呢?印度1/3的火车晚点。英国最繁忙的站台上7/10的乘客因高峰迟到。日本铁路也不总是表面上看起来的那样可靠，许多通往东京的往返线路都出现了 拥堵${}^1$。

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Plamen Angelov of the University of Lancaster, in Britain, has an idea that he hopes will make train delays rarer. Often, Dr Angelov observes, the problem is not the inefficiency of operators but the behaviour of passengers—the “platform-train interface”, to use railway parlance. When trains arrive, passengers crowd around the doors waiting to board, restricting the flow of those getting off. When they are about to depart, people often hold doors open, delaying that departure. (A recent study by Japan’s Railway Bureau found that passengers attempting to board trains after their scheduled departure times accounted for almost 50% of delays.)

interface [ˈɪntəfeɪs] 人机交互界面，接口

parlance [ˈpɑːləns] 术语

restrict [rɪˈstrɪkt] 限制

bureau [ˈbjʊərəʊ] 局，办公室

英国兰开斯特大学的普莱曼·安杰洛夫有一个想法，他希望能让火车晚点的情况更少。安杰洛夫博士观察到，问题通常不在于运营商效率低下，而在于乘客的行为-用铁路术语来说，就是“月台-列车接口”。当火车到达时，乘客们挤在等上车的车门周围，限制了下车的人流。当他们要离开的时候，人们常常把门打开，推迟他们的离开。(日本铁路局最近的一项研究发现，试图在预定出发时间后上车的乘客占延误的近50%。)

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Passengers also frequently stand too close to the carriages for safety. Waiting for malefactors to move back behind the yellow safety line on a platform might hold a train up for less than a minute. But over the course of a journey those minutes add up. Even a slight delay is compounded if it causes a train to slip out of its running order and be held at a subsequent station, or be required to follow a slower service.

carriages [ˈkærɪdʒɪz] 火车客车厢

malefactor [ˈmælɪfæktə®] 犯人

subsequent [ˈsʌbsɪkwənt] 随后的

乘客门经常会站得距离车厢过近，从而引起安全问题。为了使这些不守规矩的人回到黄色安全线后面，通常会造成火车产生一分钟以内的延误。但是在火车整个行程中这些延误累加起来就会很可观。而即使是一个轻微的延误，也可能会打乱火车的运行次序，而产生叠加的后果，导致其在后面的车站上等待，或者会被要求减速运行。

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Dr Angelov thinks that applying artificial intelligence${}^1$ to the problem might help. And that is what he and his team are doing. Using images from the CCTV cameras already mounted in carriages and on platforms, their system employs algorithms that have been trained to detect objects such as people, luggage, pushchairs and bicycles. It then measures the movements and positions of these objects relative to areas such as the train doors or the yellow safety line and uses this information to predict problems

mount [maʊnt] 准备

Angelov博士认为，将 人工智能${}^1$ 应用于这个问题可能会有所帮助。这就是他和他的团队正在做的。他们的系统利用已经安装在车厢和站台上的闭路电视摄像机的图像，使用经过训练的算法来检测人、行李、推车和自行车等物体。然后测量这些物体相对于诸如火车车门或黄色安全线等区域的运动和位置，并利用这些信息预测问题。

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The cameras in the carriages detect how busy particular doors are getting as passengers leave their seats and gather next to the exits when the train approaches a station. At the same time, the station cameras monitor the numbers waiting for the train to arrive, whereabouts they are standing along the platform, and how encumbered they are. The two sets of data can then be compared, providing warning of likely areas of congestion. This permits passengers—particularly those on the platform—to be directed to doors that will be less busy. Indeed, says Dr Angelov, the process could be automated by using LED strips along a platform that illuminate in green, amber or red to mark the easiest places to board an arriving service.

encumber [ɪnˈkʌmbə®] 妨碍

congestion [kənˈdʒestʃən] 阻塞

illuminate [ɪˈluːmɪneɪt] 照明

车厢里的摄像头可以探测到当乘客离开座位，在火车驶近车站时聚集在出口旁时，特定的门会变得多么繁忙。同时，车站摄像头监视等待列车到达的人数、他们站在站台上的位置、以及他们受到了多大的阻碍。然后可以比较这两组数据，从而对可能出现拥堵的地区提供警告。这就允许乘客-尤其是月台上的乘客-被引导到不那么繁忙的门上。事实上，Angelov博士说，这一过程可以通过在平台上使用LED条实现自动化，该平台以绿色、琥珀色或红色照明，标志着到达服务最容易到达的地方。

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The system Dr Angelov and his colleagues have devised does not rely on having a central computer to do the number-crunching${}^1$. The video-analysis algorithms will be embedded into${}^2$ small electronic devices incorporated into${}^3$ the cameras themselves. So far, the researchers have tested the system using video supplied by railway companies. They are now working with Digital Rail, a new firm based at the university, to conduct tests on a live railway with a view to commercialising it. Commuters are creatures of habit${}^4$. But if video analysis can help to make their trains run on time, then even the most hardened travellers may be prepared to change their routine.

devise [dɪˈvaɪz] 发明

crunch [krʌntʃ] 压碎声，嘎吱

embedded [ɪmˈbedɪd] 嵌入

incorporate [ɪnˈkɔːpəreɪt] 包含，集成

supplied [səˈplaɪd] 提供

conduct [kənˈdʌkt ] 组织，安排，实施

commercializing [kəˈmɜːʃəlaɪzɪŋ] 商业化

routine [ruːˈtiːn] 常规

安吉洛夫博士和他的同事们设计的系统并不依赖于拥有一台中央计算机来进行 数字运算${}^1$ 。视频分析算法将 嵌入${}^2$ 到小型电子设备中，并将其 集成${}^3$ 到摄像机中。到目前为止，研究人员已经使用铁路公司提供的视频对该系统进行了测试。他们现在正与一家新的大学公司数码铁路公司合作，在一条直播铁路上进行测试，以期将其商业化。通勤者是 习惯的产物${}^4$。但是，如果视频分析能够帮助他们的火车准时运行，那么即使是最老练的旅行者也可能准备改变他们的日常生活方式。