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Crossrail could bankrupt London - says Ken Livingstone
On Tue, 25 Mar 2008, Andy wrote:
On Mar 25, 8:00*am, The Real Doctor wrote: On 24 Mar, 23:10, Adrian wrote: On Mar 24, 4:00 pm, Dan G wrote: Anyone seen a more detailed costing of the scheme? *Why* is it costing so much more than other, not dissimilar, projects? In part it will cost a lot because it will be (or should be) engineered to a very high standard. *The Jubilee Line extension is a pointer in that respect. But it is predicted to cost more than five times as much as the Jubilee Line extension ... You have clearly never lived in a city where good spacious (1,000 sq ft per person) affordable housing is available to middle class workers. *Or, enjoyed one where a normal comfortable journey to work is 40 minutes or less. And how many people do you think will find good, spacious, affordable housing as a result of this line. It'll knock quarter of an hour, tops, off the journey onto London - are those fifteen minutes really deterring millions from moving to good, spacious, affordable housing? But wasn't the main justification for crossrail the relief of the overcrowding already present on existing lines, as well as allowing for predicted growth. It will take a fair number of people off the Central line (and other Underground lines) as well as providing extra capacity on the National Rail lines to either side. Except it won't. It will relieve the Central line west of Stratford, for sure, which in practice means Stratford to Oxford Circus. But it doesn't actually add any capacity at all to the Great Eastern or Western railways - every path that Crossrail will use is currently used by a normal train. Crossrail trains will be a bit longer, but you could deliver the same capacity increase by adapting those lines for longer trains without the central tunnel bit for a lot less money. The fact that it will reduce journey times is an added benefit, but not the main justification for the construction. It also won't reduce journey times much. Trips you can make with Crossrail can currently be made with train plus Central line via quite easy changes at Stratford or Ealing Broadway (or more painful ones at Liverpool Street or Paddington, after a quicker run to the terminal). It will make the trips a lot more convenient by eliminating those changes, but not hugely faster. tom -- I believe there is no philosophical high-road in science, with epistemological signposts. No, we are in a jungle and find our way by trial and error, building our road behind us as we proceed. -- Max Born |
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