10th form TRANSPORTATION

 TRANSPORTATION

MEANS OF TRANSPORT

The first means of transport in human history were people's feet. After somebody had invented a wheel, a lot of various types of vehicles were developed. At present there are a lot of means of transport which help people to move from one to another place, to get to very distant places in a very short time, to overcome seas and oceans and even fly to the stars, to transport huge amounts of goods.

 People travel in order to reach places that are close or far away, they travel for fun or from necessity. Travelling takes up more time in our lives than most of us imagine. An everyday form of travelling may be going shopping, commuting to school, to work or visiting friends. There are two ways of travelling: one is using our own means of transport and the other is to rely on the public transportation services. People and goods can be transported by land, by air or by water.

 WATER TRANSPORT

 The main fact that speaks for water transport is the relatively small costs. That is why rivers, seas, and oceans are continuously being filled with new cargo and passenger vessels. Huge tankers full of goods cruise the seas. Fishing boats and ships help fishers at their work. Ferries, ocean liners and other steamboats take quite a long period of time to carry you to the place of destination, though. The advantage is that one can take almost as much luggage as one likes. In general not many people have the courage to board a ship because although the trip is inexpensive they can still become sea-sick. For water sports or holidaymaking we use boats, motorboats, canoes, water ski, sailboats, yachts, etc.

 GOING BY AIR

Unlike sea travel, going by air consumes huge sums of money but it is the fastest way of travelling. An air ticket ensures us a comfortable seat on the plane which can fly us to any place in the world within a few hours. At the airport we go through the passport control and security check, have our luggage (which has a limited weight, of course) checked and then wait until the plane is ready for takeoff. When we are lucky and our flight is neither cancelled nor postponed we can look forward to a safe landing on the runway of another airport. For private use and for some other purposes (health care, army and police needs) helicopters are usually used. Sometimes in the past, balloons and airships cruised the sky. Now, balloon flying is a very romantic sport.

TRAVELLING BY LAND

MOTOR ROAD VEHICLES

Land offers the greatest variety of means of transport. There are motor road vehicles and bicycles on the one hand and rail on the other. Personal vehicles (a coupe, a saloon, a convertible car, …), motorcycles and lorries are the most common. There are also other means of transport on four wheels - buses and trolleybuses. Of rail vehicles, which are almost exclusively designed for public use, we could mention trains, trams, and the underground. Cars and motorbikes are expensive to purchase and in addition one also has to pay for petrol, which if the vehicle has a big consumption, costs a lot of money as well. For short and middle distances a car is fast enough so as not to get too tired by travelling, unless we get into a traffic jam. Also, the space for luggage in the trunk of the car is quite large. The best thing about cars is that they will take you almost anywhere at any time. Modern cars with soft seats and a lot of space for the legs are sometimes even more comfortable than the interior of a plane. To get a driver's licence one must know how to drive and know the traffic rules well. One of the rules says that cars are to be driven on the right side of the road. This isn't true in Great Britain, there people drive on the left. Little children like to ride their bikes and scooters; the teenagers would like to drive their motorcycles or their fathers' cars. On the roads we can meet many other types of vehicles. When we are ill or when an accident happens, an ambulance takes us to the hospital. Vans and lorries transport various kinds of goods, dust-cars take away litter from our homes, cisterns are used for transportation of liquid goods (petrol, some chemical products and so on), fire-cars drive very fast along the roads when there is a fire somewhere, the police have special cars too. Sometimes we can see long container lorries on the roads. They transport goods put into large containers. The farmers use jeeps, tractors and combine harvesters.

PUBLIC MEANS OF TRANSPORT – BUSES AND TRAINS

 The most frequent public means of transport are buses and trains. The network of bus and train stops covers most inhabited places. Public transport is cheaper, but also less comfortable. The present-day coach is a very comfortable bus often air-conditioned and equipped with video and with a possibility of some refreshment. Travelling by coach is very fast. You can admire the nature along the road, read, watch the video and talk with other passengers or sleep, of course. But it is not very good for your body - you need to stretch your legs sometimes. Travelling by train is a little slower than by coach, but it is more comfortable. The train consists of a locomotive and some carriages. When we travel by a fast (express) train, we can visit a buffet car or travel in a sleeping car. Huge amounts of goods are transported by goods trains - their carriages are called lorries or trucks. The bus and train stops in major cities are called stations. An ordinary railway station looks like this: a big hall with a ticket office where one can buy a single or a return ticket and a seat reservation, the departures and arrivals board, a left luggage office or lockers, telephones, waiting halls, a restaurant, a drink (soda or coffee) machine, a book-stall, a barber's shop, a lavatory and a few flowers around a little fountain. From this hall one goes through the underpassage directly onto the right platform. From the platform we get on the train and look for a free seat in the non-smoking compartment. If all the seats are occupied we must move into another carriage and try again there. When we are seated and the train starts, we can spend the time talking with a fellow passenger, observe the landscape out of the window, eat some food, play cards with a friend or sleep. When the conductor comes we hand him the tickets and he checks them. There are no conductors on many trains in Britain, but you usually hand over your ticket to a ticket collector after the journey before leaving the platform. After the train's arrival we can get off.

PUBLIC MEANS OF TRANSPORT – UNDERGROUND AND TAXIS

In big cities underground (subways) with several different tracks have been built in order to relieve the trams and buses (the most interesting of them are the famous double-deckers in London). They are the fastest means of urban transportation and the underground trains usually go every five minutes on average. Many workers and pupils depend on the underground every morning. It can take them at a low rate from the suburbs to the city and back. The taxi (or cabs) in big cities can just be called by phone or hailed while they pass by in the street. In the mountains people sometimes use a funicular in order to get to the top of some very high hills and mountains. In the science-fiction novels the space rockets are the common means of transport.

THE CHANNEL TUNNEL

 There is one more way of getting to Britain today - through the Channel Tunnel. The first time Britain has been connected to Continental Europe since the Ice Age. But don't imagine an ordinary tunnel with road traffic under the sea. No! Only special trains can transport people, cars, lorries, coaches and caravans through it. Le Shuttle is the latest, easiest and most exciting way to pop across the Channel. Le Shuttle is a special train that takes passengers and their cars through the Channel Tunnel. They simply drive into a bright air-conditioned carriage. The passengers can stay in their cars or get out to stretch their legs and see their friends travelling in another carriage. Toilets are available on board but restaurants and other facilities are available only at the terminals on the French and British mainland because the journey itself takes only 35 minutes. The trains operate all year, up to four times hourly, 24 hours a day. The Channel Tunnel was first suggested by a French engineer, Albert Mathieu, in 1802. There have been two attempts to build a tunnel under the Channel, one in 1882 and the other in 1974. Both attempts failed because of lack of money. In 1986 the British and French governments agreed to pay for a tunnel and digging began in 1988. The Channel Tunnel was opened in 1994. It is 69 km long and goes from Folkestone in England to Calais in France. The tunnel is from 25 to 45 metres below the seabed. Prices are per car, whatever the number of passengers. After we get off the train we have to go through the immigration Office and Customs. All visitors must fill in a landing card, hand it at passport control and then be ready to answer some questions like ”What is the purpose of your visit?”, ”How long do you plan to stay in Britain?”, "Do you intend to work here?". If the officer doesn't like your answers, you can be sent back home!