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Britain is building one of the world’s most expensive railways

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61 points peutetre | 1 comments | 20 Nov 24 13:51 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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Dennip ◴[20 Nov 24 15:28 UTC] No.42194722[source]▶
Mismanagement aside, HS2 required 8000+ different permits along its route [1], as well as years of opposition and legal battles from environmental groups and NIMBYs.

This is a significant portion of the cost, huge amounts of 'green tunnels' and cuttings are being created where they are not needed.

[1] https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/nov/07/cost-of-shed...

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tharmas ◴[20 Nov 24 15:49 UTC] No.42194994[source]▶
Im sure Regular rail like WCML would've been much cheaper and less disruptive.
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growse ◴[20 Nov 24 16:02 UTC] No.42195177[source]▶
Not sure if this is sarcasm.

Assuming not.... No. The premium cost on the project related to its running speed is not significant. Planning and engineering a brand new 125mph railway doesn't cost much less than planning and engineering a brand new 250mph railway.

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TheOtherHobbes ◴[20 Nov 24 16:44 UTC] No.42195720[source]▶
If the ultimate goal was to bypass freight - none of which travels at 125mph - wouldn't it have been cheaper to build a new freight line and upgrade the speed and capacity of the WCML?

Or does a 75mph freight railway cost as much as a 250mph passenger railway?

A reminder that the cost of the project, even unfinished, with none of the benefits of the lines to Manchester and Leeds, is of the same order as NASA's current moonshot budget.

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1. lmm ◴[21 Nov 24 00:58 UTC] No.42199921[source]▶
> Or does a 75mph freight railway cost as much as a 250mph passenger railway?

No, it costs more. The most expensive part of building anything in the UK, by far, is getting it through the local planning process, and as hard as that is with a sexy passenger railway that local residents can see a direct benefit from, it's much harder for a freight railway. Also freight railways need a much flatter route, which makes the route more constrained (increasing planning costs) and means more need for bridges and tunnels (increasing everything costs).