Glasgow-Edinburgh delay and cost + Queen Street Stn groan

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rjhowie
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Glasgow-Edinburgh delay and cost + Queen Street Stn groan

Post by rjhowie »

It seems the main line of the three between the two cities and busiest in Scotland is having delays having the new electric trains and the cost is away up. What a drag!

In addition the work at Glasgow (Queen Street) is also something else and in a survey listed as the worst station in GB. Yet another delay in improvements. Even the booking office for a ticket isn't at present in the station and you have to get a ticket across the fortunately narrow street between an entrance and it! Pathetic.
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cyberdonblue
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Re: Glasgow-Edinburgh delay and cost + Queen Street Stn groa

Post by cyberdonblue »

Looking at all the supposedly ongoing railway projects in Britain at the moment, I get the feeling that this government is somehow choking all but the simplest of them out of existence - particularly the electrification projects. There have been many stories fairly recently of projects being curtailed or cancelled completely because of extortionate cost overruns or poor estimates in the first place being found to be nowhere near the alleged true cost. Is it a case of some of the more "suspect" operations being discarded incase the public find out just who really is making a mint out of these things?

I have seen local projects costed in years gone by and have been staggered at how they arrived at the extortionate numbers that they did. £120 odd million to replace a level crossing with a bridge underneath the railway (mid 1990s) :shock: . Simple projects like building proper tarmac access paths at railway depots received estimates running into hundreds of thousands of pounds :o . I couldn't believe it. I believed then, and I believe now, that there was/is a massive level of dishonesty in pricing these public projects. If you'd hired a local contractor you'd probably have got most of the jobs done at a tenth of the price. There's far too much nudge, nudge, wink, wink, old school-tie stuff going on with taxpayer funded projects in this country in my opinion; and not just on the railways either.

Cheers

Dave
rjhowie
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Re: Glasgow-Edinburgh delay and cost + Queen Street Stn groa

Post by rjhowie »

I must say that the railways here have been a challenge and it does not make a difference as to wther the Stae runs them or they are independent. Up here in the north of the kingdom the Borders Rail re-opening (well a good chunk at over 30 miles!) was opened in time and cost. It raises that question of why not the same where else. Some aspects especially with Network Rail make one groan however far more people use the railways than when BR ran them and we tend to forget that BR was often laughed at and jokes made well outside of dated sandwiches, etc!

Up here we have had actual re-openings one was added to the wider Glasgow suburban etc electric system. Now another re-opening in Scotland is being electrified and encouraged by the line's success. The Scottish Government look at continuing the brought back Borders route to Carlisle is running late and so are concerned that in the very near future the transport Scotland thing might say "no." Any possibility needs wide assessment of both the government lot in Edinburgh and the Westminster side.

It is passingly comic that the nation that invented the railways is often a bit mixed up or making people sigh. The one good continuity is that as i said more people are using it than before!
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