In the United States, a company is working on a project that could change the way we think about public transportation. Its planned system would move people around in steel tubes. Those passengers would be traveling at speeds of up to 1,200 kilometers per hour.
美国一家公司正致力于一个可能改变我们对公共交通看法的项目。该公司规划的运输系统将通过管道运送旅客。这些旅客将以高达1200公里的时速旅行。
The futuristic steel tube transportation system is called Hyperloop. Workers plan to test the system next year in a specially built community called Quay Valley. The town will be powered entirely by energy from the sun.
这个未来的管道运输系统被称为超回路列车。工人们计划明年在专门建造的一个名为Quay Valley的社区进行测试。该镇将完全依靠太阳能提供能源。
The Hyperloop transport system is the idea of businessman Elon Musk. Dirk Ahlborn is head of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies. He says his company has taken Mr. Musk's idea and is developing a system that will be safe, environmentally friendly and fast.
这个超回路列车运输系统是企业家伊隆·马斯克（Elon Musk）的想法。德克·爱尔邦（Dirk Ahlborn）是超回路列车运输技术公司的负责人。他说该公司已经采用了马斯克先生的想法，并且正在开发一个安全、环保、快捷的运输系统。
"It's 100 percent solar powered...we're not going to get up to 760 miles per hour, but we believe we can actually break the records that are existing right now."
他说，“它完全依靠太阳能提供动力。我们不打算把速度提高到760英里每小时，但是我们相信可以打破现有记录。”
This means that a four-hour drive from Los Angeles, California to Las Vegas, Nevada, could someday take only 30 minutes by Hyperloop.
这意味着有一天从加州洛杉矶市到内华达州拉斯维加斯市四个小时的车程，乘坐超回路列车只需要30分钟。
The system involves a series of capsules that float inside a long tube. These containers would not need to travel along a pathway or track. The system has been designed to operate above or below ground.
该运输系统包括一系列漂浮在长管道中的“胶囊列车”。这些车厢不需要沿着轨道行进。该系统被设计成在地面或地下运行。
"Inside the tube you create a low pressure environment very similar to an airplane that's at high altitudes. So now the capsule travelling inside the tube doesn't encounter as much resistance, and therefore can travel really fast with very little energy."
“在管道内部我们会创建低压环境，类似于在高海拔飞行的客机。所以胶囊列车在管道内部行进时不会遇到太大阻力，这样就可以用很少的能量行驶非常快。”
Dick Ahlborn and his company will use an eight-kilometer track in Quay Valley to find the best way to set up passenger traffic and repair capsules. A larger system will cost an estimated six to $10 billion to build.
爱尔邦先生和他的公司将利用Quay Valley的一条8公里的轨道找出制定客运交通和维修胶囊列车的最佳途径。建造一个更大的系统预计需要耗资60到100亿美元。
If Mr. Ahlborn and his company succeed, we may one day see these very fast Hyperloop capsules speeding through tubes around the world.
如果爱尔邦先生和他的公司取得成功，我们某天可能会看到这些非常快的超回路列车在世纪各地的管道中飞驰。
I'm Jonathan Evans.
我是乔纳森·埃文斯。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)