London Banter - View Single Post

Kevin · November 24th 04, 09:13 AM posted to uk.transport.london,uk.railway

(Aidan Stanger) wrote in message ...
Colin Rosenstiel wrote:
(Dave Arquati) wrote:
Angus Bryant wrote:

Is there still a plan to open a station at Brixton? This would be a
really useful interchange for any SLL/orbital service.

Currently depends on funding; a station at Brixton would be on the
brick viaduct and would cost around £70m. ELLX Phase 2 would probably
go ahead without it, to make sure the cost of the station at Brixton
didn't jeopardise the rest of the project.

£70M? Sheesh! Railway costs have gone mad.

You're right - that's over 90% of the cost of the entire original
section of the DLR (including the trains). Even allowing for the longer
platforms and inflation, it still seems to be an order of magnitude out.

Most boiling frogs are caused at least partly by the private sector not
being able to efficiently do what BR could. Can it really be that the
private sector can't even efficiently do what they themselves were once
able to? Or is it a case of gross overspeccing? Answering this question
should bring the solution a lot closer.

I posed this same question about the Croxley Watford link. I put it
down to the fact that the Government is now throwing money at public
transport and every body and his dog is after some of the action. If
the contractors know that there is shed loads of money to be thrown at
something then there doesn't seem to be much of a competive drive.
The dome seems to be a classic example.
Kevin