Levenmouth Railway Costs.

[deltic08]

We are constantly being told by a certain member on this site that railway construction is £40million pound a mile. So why has a double tracked, signaled and two stations railway been built to Levenmouth for £11.6 million/mile (originally costed at £8 million/mile)?

 

[hexagon789]

We are constantly being told by a certain member on this site that railway construction is £40million pound a mile. So why has a double tracked, signaled and two stations railway been built to Levenmouth for £11.6 million/mile (originally costed at £8 million/mile)?

Possibly because it was partly in use for freight until 9 years ago?

I.e. not completely from scratch re-opening.

 

[chuff chuff]

Also built for a low speed.

 

[The exile]

Surely the question “how much does it cost to re-open a mile of railway?” Is about as likely to get an accurate answer as “how long is a piece of string?” There are so many variables…. For a start, what would the cost be of land purchase alone for a mile of railway through an area currently occupied by high density (but fashionable) urban apartments and also clipping the corner of a critical bit of electrical infrastructure as it heads for a brand new crossing of a wide navigable river? Compare that with a mile of recently closed freight line in open country already in NR’s possession.

 

[deltic08]

Possibly because it was partly in use for freight until 9 years ago?

I.e. not completely from scratch re-opening.

Admittedly the earthworks are already done but the track was unsuitable for passenger use and was taken up, the bed was rebuilt with new drainage, 19 miles of new track layed with new top ballast, Cameron Bridge island platform was demolished and replaced by snazzy separate platforms for each line, a new island platform at Leven with facing and trailing crossovers and signalled. That is virtually a new railway.

Also built for a low speed.

What is the linespeed? I would have thought 6o mph.

Surely the question “how much does it cost to re-open a mile of railway?” Is about as likely to get an accurate answer as “how long is a piece of string?” There are so many variables…. For a start, what would the cost be of land purchase alone for a mile of railway through an area currently occupied by high density (but fashionable) urban apartments and also clipping the corner of a critical bit of electrical infrastructure as it heads for a brand new crossing of a wide navigable river? Compare that with a mile of recently closed freight line in open country already in NR’s possession.

I agree. Even if land had to be bought we are talking of 70 acres of prime farmland at £4000 per acre would cost £500,000 or thereabouts.
I am trying to work out a figure for reinstating a trackbed in similar condition. At £11million a mile it is viable, At £40 million a mile probably not.

 

[Railsigns]

What is the linespeed? I would have thought 6o mph.

Maximum 45 mph (lower in some places).

 

[mcmad]

It also used an existing connection onto the main line avoiding the cost of signalling alteration on the main line. Was the £40m figure not for new lines rather than reinstatement, what is the line in Northumberland costing?

 

[Bald Rick]

We are constantly being told by a certain member on this site that railway construction is £40million pound a mile. So why has a double tracked, signaled and two stations railway been built to Levenmouth for £11.6 million/mile (originally costed at £8 million/mile)?

Hello!

My usual rule of thumb is £30m - £40m. East West Rail is over that.

The published cost in 2022 for Leven was £117m. We’ll see what the actual completion cost is later, when inflation has had it’s say; I imagine it will be more, and probably not announced.

The line is 5.5miles long.

117/5.5 = £22.3m/mile.

For a line that did not require primary consent, was technically already a railway, did not incure much in the way of land costs (the cost of buying land is much, much more that the value of the land), that was built in one of the most deprived areas of the country with a cheap workforce, to a low spec, with minimal earthworks, and with little in the way of utilities to shift…

… that’s about right.

 

[The exile]

Admittedly the earthworks are already done but the track was unsuitable for passenger use and was taken up, the bed was rebuilt with new drainage, 19 miles of new track layed with new top ballast, Cameron Bridge island platform was demolished and replaced by snazzy separate platforms for each line, a new island platform at Leven with facing and trailing crossovers and signalled. That is virtually a new railway.


What is the linespeed? I would have thought 6o mph.

I agree. Even if land had to be bought we are talking of 70 acres of prime farmland at £4000 per acre would cost £500,000 or thereabouts.
I am trying to work out a figure for reinstating a trackbed in similar condition. At £11million a mile it is viable, At £40 million a mile probably not.

Seventy acres at £4K an acre would in fact be £280K!

 

[snowball]

19 miles of new track layed with new top ballast,

It's 19 single track kilometres not miles. And may be an overestimate as the length of the line has been quoted as 6miles 1 chain, which is about 9.6k route km, but there's about 1km of single lead at the mainline end.

 

[Bald Rick]

Seventy acres at £4K an acre would in fact be £280K!

It would!

Albeit arable farmland in eastern Scotland is around £10k/acre, and that excludes the costs associated with the transaction, which adds more. A lot, lot more for an unwilling vendor.

And, very very roughly, to build a railway you need about 20 acres of land per mile.