3 ms·

Wow, $3.09B for 4.3 miles of track and 4 stations? In possibly 7 years, if everything goes according to plan? Elsewhere in the world, the Delhi Metro Phase 2 c

Wow, $3.09B for 4.3 miles of track and 4 stations? In possibly 7 years, if everything goes according to plan? Elsewhere in the world, the Delhi Metro Phase 2 cost $2.9B and took 3 years. 77 miles of track, 85 stations, and countdown clocks. The Bangalore Metro (phase 1) is expected to be $2.5B (including a 25% cost overrun) for 26 miles and 40 stations. It also includes countdown clocks. Barcelona spent $200M for a 5.8km rail tunnel. Where's your money going?

frandroid 11y ago
Have you looked at the wages of Indian labourers versus American construction workers lately?
- GFischer 11y ago
  To be fair, he mentioned Barcelona, which is not too different from America hopefully. I'm going to see if I can google what a Swiss equivalent costs (pretty certain the Swiss should be more expensive than American workers). Edit: the only metro in Switzerland is in Lausanne, and it cost SFr590 million ($472 million) for about 6 km (3.7 miles) and 14 stations. Construction is probably much easier, but the American one still has some pretty brutal cost overruns.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  In fact, most of the cost of train construction is not labor (except in the US). That's why the Egypt, China and India (low labor costs) aren't significantly cheaper than Spain or Korea (high labor costs). https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comparative-subway-construction-costs-revised/ https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comp... If only I thought of this - then I might have cited a Spanish construction project in the very comment you replied to, so that no one could cluelessly bring up labor costs. In any case, even if your claim were true, there is an easy solution. Import Indians to get the job done. The goal is fixing our crumbling infrastructure rather than union featherbedding, right?

frandroid 11y ago

Have you looked at the wages of Indian labourers versus American construction workers lately?

GFischer 11y ago
To be fair, he mentioned Barcelona, which is not too different from America hopefully. I'm going to see if I can google what a Swiss equivalent costs (pretty certain the Swiss should be more expensive than American workers). Edit: the only metro in Switzerland is in Lausanne, and it cost SFr590 million ($472 million) for about 6 km (3.7 miles) and 14 stations. Construction is probably much easier, but the American one still has some pretty brutal cost overruns.
yummyfajitas 11y ago
In fact, most of the cost of train construction is not labor (except in the US). That's why the Egypt, China and India (low labor costs) aren't significantly cheaper than Spain or Korea (high labor costs). https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comparative-subway-construction-costs-revised/ https://pedestrianobservations.wordpress.com/2013/06/03/comp... If only I thought of this - then I might have cited a Spanish construction project in the very comment you replied to, so that no one could cluelessly bring up labor costs. In any case, even if your claim were true, there is an easy solution. Import Indians to get the job done. The goal is fixing our crumbling infrastructure rather than union featherbedding, right?