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My understanding with contacts in the Scottish Government and Network Rail that pragmatism reigns up here unlike South of the Border. They understand that Electrification should be delivered on a rolling in programme rather than trying to do it in a 5 year programme and throwing in the towel and...

Yes ckearance does drive up prices but i also think part of the issues is Network Rail is hollowed out of experienced people and also the regulator has to take a lot of blame I noted Roger Fords reports of the GWML electrification. The network rail team claimed a lot of mistakes were due to...

it costs about £1.50 for each cubic metre on large projects. You would never dig a cutting 100m deep. where is the world have you seen one of that size. 30m deep is about the max. safe batter would be 1 in 1.5 to 2. you can work out the quantities from that --- old post above --- --- new post...

Interesting, I had a quick look at this on cad with OS data and I thought through line through Edinburgh was impossible and even fitting 400m terminus was too difficult. Glasgow I thought the end of the platforms would have to be over the Clyde with the station stretching into the Gorbals. The...

I get this crash message as well and I have a fairly older computer. The big routes like WCML north takes up loads of RAM and seem prone. Running the Valencia Madrid high speed line route at 200mph the computer couldnt seem to keep up rendering the landscape quick enough, I get texture...

That's because the lane is private so NR couldn't get access agreed. I used it on Thursday and capacity wise it is much better. It still isn't finished yet, there is plenty of snagging to be done. Does anyone know what they are planning to do with the old station building? I always thought...

Interesting proposal. It must be said the idea of closing the line and building a motorway over it was monumental stupidity. I understand it wasn’t even a Beeching cut, it was done late 60s. I read somewhere the original idea was to divert all perth services via stirling and the ladybank line...

That’s an interesting point. So I would at a guess reckon the NR gave them an accurate quote for the work. The gov or TIE didn’t like it and decided it could do it for less and then hey presto you get a badly scoped project that goes over budget. I am a civil designer and I have heard so...

Yes a £17 mill job five years after completion does seem fishy. Was the job based on refurbishing the line for passenger only? Big difference between a turbostar and a loaded 66. The Scotsman article mentions the 2007 audit office investigation to the original overspend. I just downloaded...

Actually I would have to say I disagree, I think HS2 is well thought out. It is not starting till 2018 as it is designed to start after crossrail has finished, too late for me but economics wise, this makes sense. There is no point building legs of HS2 piecemeal, this is one of the reasons...

I like that, it makes a lot of sense, utilising some of HS2 to reduce the amount of construction. Also trying to join with HS2 in manchester makes sense. I just had a look at a OS map and i would agree, on the approached to Stanedge it is built up and the north entrance faces straight into a...

I think Greenguages proposals for a HSR network are quite well thought out a mixture of existing line upgrades and new tracks across the country. Once HS2 is up and running there will be a business case to extend it further I am sure and fill in gaps. I am a civil engineer and I have been...

I don’t think that would ever have a business case, it would be the longest undersea crossing in the world, and it only services a population of 5 mill. The channel tunnel services 60mill and has struggled to pay back its debts. Technically though it is feasible. --- old post above --- --- new...

I am with Haydn1971. you are delving into a highly specialist area. I would suggest you are unlikely to find much literature and guidance on it. the dead and live loads will not be the governing factor I bet. The old BS for bridge design has loads for trains but it wont give you any...

I don’t hate the trains they do what the specification required. I hate the Department of Transport's incompetence and gross waste of public money. As Lexy put it clearly they are bespoke, and expensive have taken 7 years to get this far at a cost of over £60million so far. I get a lot of...

airdrie bathgate opened two years ago. Most of it is on existing track but there are a couple of realignments

Well the inner geek in me took a look at extending HS2 to scotland or call it HS3 if you like when I had a spare day or so at work between projects. The SNP has mentioned if the full HS2 goes ahead it will fund a line down the the border. Maybe in 2050 we can have 2.5hour trains to london? As...

ahh that explains why my attempts to book eurostar tickets through from St Pancras to Amsterdam for January was not working. I couldn't see anywhere on the website that said they were stopping selling dutch tickets, it just said no tickets could be found. excuse my ignorance but in the new year...

i think it was but as i work for one of those pesky external consultants (not in rail thankfully) i would say we generally do what we are told by the government departments requesting our services. Often we are asked to do something daft but the problem is how much pushing back do we do? If we...

But the civil service GOT IT WRONG! Its not PR. Branson would have won the court case that is why the DofT put its hand it, it got the bidding wrong. Look i have no love for Branson but if i was in his position and thought it hadn't been a fair process I would do the same. What you are saying is...