Theo wrote:
MikeS wrote:
On 26/08/2020 00:00, Graham Harrison wrote:
That is true but since Crossrail is a product of the subcontracting
ear (if I can call it that) you might wonder how much of the cost
overrun and delay is caused by subcontracting.

In that case you might also wonder how any of the railways of Britain
ever got built given that virtually all of them used contractors and
subcontractors.

Victorian railways were not unfamiliar with cost overruns and bankruptcies,
of course. I do wonder if any of them actually made a profit in the long
run.

I think the early ones, running along the routes of obvious high demand,
did very well and form the basis for the 125mph main lines of today. But
that initial success encouraged many other later railways that either
duplicated the early routes or had too little potential demand (freight or
passenger). That later railway mania led to railways that were generally
less or not profitable at all. Most got absorbed by larger neighbours, and
were the early casualties in the 20th century rail closures.