but only 5 in the north-east, according to IPPR North, a think-tank.
而在东北部平均每人仅5英镑。
Britain's proposed high-speed railway will not help much, and not for a long time.
英国所提议的高速铁路不会有太大帮助，也不是长久之计。
Under current plans HS2 will take until 2033 to reach the north-east, some seven years after it stretches to the West Midlands.
在现有的计划下，HS2高速铁路项目直到2033年才能建设到东北部，比到达西米德兰兹郡要晚约七年。
Even then many are worried:
即使到那时候，人们还是忧心忡忡：
Edward Twiddy, leader of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership, fears that journeys to Leeds in Yorkshire will become longer and that investment will be drawn away from the East Coast mainline.
Railway tracks are being electrified in the north-west, but only as far as York.
西北部的铁路正在实现电气化，但最远也只推行到了约克。
Unless parts of the north-east are electrified too, areas like Middlesbrough risk being cut off even more than at present.
除非部分东北部地区也实现电气化，否则像米德尔斯堡这样的地区将冒着比现在更与世隔绝的风险。
Better rolling-stock would get more people on trains.
更好的铁路运行会带来更多乘客。
If another platform were added to Darlington station
如果达灵顿车站能多设一个站台
a pretty, if sparse, Victorian structure—then congestion on the line to London would be reduced, as local and freight services would no longer need to cross the main tracks.
Such projects are less exciting than a whizzy new railway.
这样的项目没有建设一个新的高技术铁路那样激动人心。
Government officials tend to glaze over when they are mentioned, says Ed Cox of IPPR North.
当这些项目被提及时，政府官员往往提不起半点兴趣。北方公共政策研究所的爱德·科克斯如是说。
A more integrated approach to transport planning would help.
更综合一些的交通运输计划会有帮助。
This is slowly starting to happen:
这正在慢慢地实现：
from April 1st seven local authorities in the north-east will hive off some functions to a combined authority, similar to the set-up in Manchester.
从4月1日开始东北部的七个地方政府将会分离一部分职能来组成一个联合机构，类似于曼彻斯特的组织。
This should give the north-east a stronger voice.
这将使东北部更具有发言权。
When two northern rail franchises come up for renewal in 2016 local authorities will play a larger part in the bidding process.
当2016年两个北方铁路专营权更新时，当地政府在投标过程中的地位将更重要。
In many ways the region is lagging 20 years behind everywhere else, thinks Penny Marshall, the regional director of the Institution of Civil Engineers in the north-east.
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