tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21638813.post4713902655128768810..comments2023-12-24T13:35:50.833+00:00Comments on DeadDogBlog: Getting to Jack Brown'sSara Dormanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11062772751850705696noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21638813.post-69985229661598885542014-01-19T07:24:24.895+00:002014-01-19T07:24:24.895+00:00It does leave you wondering about those who plan s...It does leave you wondering about those who plan some of the major transport projects and demand big new toys as proof that they are doing it right.<br /><br />Just started up is another 14.5Km tram route (roughly same length as the 14Km Edinburgh tram) in Besancon, France which cost€17m per km and is open. Edinburgh (to date) is costing €66.5m per Km.<br /><br />Besancon bought an off-the peg design of tram, and selected a design which can be extended by adding further intermediate sections, saving the initial big hit in costs, and allowing the growth to be paid for as the patronage brings in revenue. <br /><br />Some schemes, especially in the US, are making even greater savings on start-up costs, by getting the service going with refurbished secondhand trams, very much like the Island Line on the Isle of Wight uses 75 year old Tube trains to deliver an electrified railway where the cost of doing it with new trains would have ruled out the continued existence of the line. <br /><br />Besancon also used much less disruptive and simpler systems for putting rails in the road, and many systems actually aim to put as much track on a reserved median as possible , or even underground to avoid the competition for space.<br /><br />Edinburgh's tram should have gone under Princes Street with a key benefit (to Waverley Market and the rail station, of having a stop, bringing footfall through the market on the intermediate level. This would have removed the many issues linked to trams and buses and cycles and pedestrians, and even some general motor traffic, all competing for road space on the current road surface, It might also have been achieved with a lot less disturbance on the surface, and offered a whole area of new retail potential, connecting to the basement sales floors of many stores, and creating new opportunities in an all-weather Princes Street, Low Level.<br /><br />Now I just wonder if ther might eb a developer who could fund that? Dave Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11574227829528072780noreply@blogger.com