Charles and Camilla manage to get a seat on the tube in network's 150th year

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall avoid the cost of a tube ticket with hand-out Oyster cards for the Metropolitan line ride.

The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall took to the London tube on Wednesday and appeared mightily impressed. For the one-stop ride they boarded a brand new train – empty on arrival – to be whisked along the Metropolitan line from Farringdon to King's Cross.

Once they had alighted they reverted to a more familiar mode of travel, using a chauffeur-drivenlimo for the 200-yard hop to the five-star St Pancras Renaissance hotel.

The couple were marking the 150th anniversary of the capital's transport network and to add authenticity to their experience were equipped with Oyster cards pre-loaded with £10 each for the £2.10 journey, despite both qualifying for an over-60s Freedom Pass.

It has been a while since the prince caught the tube, 27 years in fact, when he travelled to Heathrow airport to open Terminal 4. Though he had not swiped an Oyster card before, he got the hang of it.

The public were allowed to board the train at Farringdon, with a group of police officers standing between passengers and the royal party, which included senior transport officials.

Charles seemed a little disappointed at the brevity of his journey. "Just one stop!" he exclaimed, as they arrived at King's Cross.

But the couple's fantasy experience continued. At the station's famed sign for Harry Potter's Platform 9¾, Camilla sought to board the Hogwarts Express by trying to push a trolley through the station wall (a trolley sheared in half is usually left stuck to the brickwork for visitors' enjoyment). She failed.

They then went on a tour of King's Cross station where they met people at a concourse pub – including two wearing exactly the sort of earpieces that plain clothes protection officers often sport.

At the St Pancras Renaissance hotel, which has had a £150m refurbishment, they rounded off their visit by knocking back a glass of Billy Dawson's punch (a Victorian rum and cognac drink) inside the Booking Office restaurant and bar.

The royal couple had been along the route of the underground's first line, which opened on 9 January 1863 and ran services between Paddington and Farringdon. The train used for the occasion on Wednesday was one of London Underground's new S-Stock, which are being introduced to 40% of the tube network. "Very nice, very smart," the duchess remarked.

本周三威尔士亲王与妻子康沃尔公爵夫人亲自乘坐了伦敦地铁，这次地铁之行似乎给他们留下了强烈的印象。他们只搭乘了一站，上的是一辆崭新的空车，这辆车沿大都会线由法灵顿站一直开到国王十字站。

下地铁后，他们又改乘另一种更熟悉的交通工具——配备司机的豪华轿车，行驶200码即到达五星级酒店圣潘克拉斯万丽酒店。

亲王夫妇此行是来庆祝伦敦地铁150周年纪念日的。虽然两人都已年过60，有资格免费乘坐公交，但为了使感受更加真切，他们携带了牡蛎卡，而且往每张卡里各充值了10英镑（此次行程票价为2.1英镑）。

威尔士亲王已经有很长时间没有乘坐地铁了，事实上他上一次乘地铁是在27年前，当时他乘地铁到希思罗机场参加四号航站楼的落成仪式。虽然他以前没有刷过牡蛎卡，不过他知道怎么使用。

公众被允许在法灵顿站上地铁，一群警察将王储夫妇与普通乘客隔开，和王储一同搭地铁的还有交通部的高级官员。

查尔斯王子似乎对地铁之行过于短暂感到有点失望。到达国王十字站时，他叫道：“才一站地啊！”

不过王储夫妇的美妙经历仍在继续。他们来到因《哈利•波特》而闻名的“9又3/4站台”前，卡米拉试着把手推车推进车站墙壁，想“登上”霍格沃茨特快列车，不过没有成功。被对半锯开的“半辆”手推车通常都会固定在砖墙上，供游客游玩之用。

于是两人又在国王十字站游览了一番。他们在地铁大厅的一个酒吧里遇到了一些人，其中有两人耳朵上戴着便衣警卫常戴的那种耳机。

到达花费1.5亿英镑重新装修的圣潘克拉斯万丽酒店后，他们在售票处餐厅和酒吧里一口气喝掉一杯比利•道森潘趣酒（维多利亚时期的一种朗姆酒与白兰地混合饮料），圆满结束了这次行程。

王储夫妇搭乘地铁的线路是伦敦地铁开通的第一条线路，该线路于1863年1月9日开通，往返于帕丁顿和法灵顿之间。周三纪念日上启用的列车是伦敦地铁新增设的S型列车中的一辆，S型列车现已覆盖地铁网络系统的40%。康沃尔公爵夫人评价说：“很好很漂亮。”

Vocabulary:

alight: 下车

chauffeur: 司机

limo: 豪华轿车

yard: 码（英制中丈量长度单位，1码=3英尺）

hop: 短途旅行

Oyster card: 牡蛎卡，是大伦敦地区交通用的电子收费系统，卡片的大小和信用卡相同，内置芯片，可以储存伦敦交通的旅行卡（Travelcard）、公交卡（Bus Pass）及预付费（pre-pay）。使用时把卡片放在黄色的圆形读取器上即能通过。

swipe: 刷（信用卡等）

get the hang of: 得知……的窍门；熟悉某物的用法

concourse: 广场，大堂，大厅

knock back: 很快地喝掉