Quote:
Originally Posted by milomilo
The Van Horne numbers probably are low, but you can't compare costs to HS2. HS2 is an infinitely more complex railway than what we would have to build in Alberta, including 2 deep bore tunnels on the approaches into Manchester and London, and miles upon miles of tunnel and viaducts elsewhere. The distance between London to Manchester is similar to between Edmonton and Calgary, yet you've got about the population of Canada crammed in there, as well as having to thread the railway amonst the existing infrastructure. HS2 will be vastly more expensive than the very simple railway we would need to build here.
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I'm sorry I used such an extreme example, looking through my notes a more applicable example would be LGV SEA.
The Ligne a Grande Vitesse Sud Europe Atlantique is the new high speed line between Tours and Bordeaux, opened in 2017. The high speed line is 302km long and cost over $12billion, working out to $40million/km. This does not include station construction, connection to the regional rail network, and other infrastructure, there are also no long viaducts or deep tunnels. France, and the rest of Europe has lots of experience and expertise in building and operating high speed rail, Canada and North America next to non-existant. In my opinion (Civil/Structural Engineer) high speed rail between Calgary and Edmonton will cost upwards of $20billion, look at the debacle of California High Speed Rail. The Cascades line will be the next high speed rail line in the "West", it is already operational and well used, along most of the line the service runs in the "higher speed rail" category.