Helsinki tram extension gives some insight as to the cost of building LRT.
The following article from the Railway Gazette, givesAi??raw cost of laying track in Helsinki, Finland and give good insight for the cost of laying tram/LRT track on-street. The ai??i??7.5 million (CAD $9.3 million), 4.1 km double track extension on the metre gauge network alsoAi??includes the cost of the overhead.
TheAi??cost of the 4.1 km extension works out to about CAD $2.7 million/km to build!
There is something radically wrong in BC and North America, where simple tram or streetcar lines can cost over $50 million a km. to build, yet in Finland, the cost for new tram construction is under $3 million/km.
I think from Surry’s point of view, TransLink should be fired and then engage Helsinki city transport operator HKL, Stara, Skanska and VR Track, who seem to have the taxpayers best interests at heart.
Helsinki tram extension opens
28 August 2012
FINLAND: Helsinki tram Route 9 services began running to the LAi??nsisatama ferry terminal on August 13, completing a ai??i??7Ai??5m extension project. Trams run every 10 min during the day, with late-night services co-ordinated with ferry times.
The 4Ai??1 km double-track extension has 11 stops. Construction was undertaken by city transport operator HKL, Stara, Skanska and VR Track, with electrical works by HelenService.
http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/urban-rail/single-view/view/helsinki-tram-extension-opens.html
The cost of ANY transit construction in North America is ridiculous. This article might give a bit of insight into why costs are so high here:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-08-26/u-s-taxpayers-are-gouged-on-mass-transit-costs.html
Projects are much less expensive in Europe or at least in Helsinki. They are building a totally underground automated metro. It is 14 km for €714 million. http://www.railwaygazette.com/news/urban-rail/single-view/view/helsinki-westmetro-project-receives-eib-funding.html
Note that the cost quoted for the tram extension didn’t include a new road and bridge that was built. So in reality the cost of the extension was somewhat more than indicated.
Zweisystem replies: Helsinki transit authorities have indeed built an automatic metro but its construction and operational costs are so much that they are seriously rethinking using automatic metro in the future.
What we see in Helsinki is the raw cost of building tram/LRT, which is far less than what Translink and BC Transit have claimed in Vancouver, Victoria and Surrey.
The bridge you mentioned, the Crusell Bridge was a separately funded road rail bridge, replacing a single lane road.
The main cost problem they’re having with the automated metro is converting older cars to run on the automated system. This would not be an issue in an all new line with new cars. On the new metro they’re also installing doors so people can fall or jump onto the tracks. You pretty much need automatic train control anyway to make this work well.
Zweisystem replies: Er Richard, you might not know this but most metro systems built since the mid 70’s are fully automatic and the driver is retained for safety issues.