4 ms·

Genuine question - how could it possibly cost $100B to upgrade a "signalling system"?

by abraae 8y ago

chimeracoder 8y ago
> Genuine question - how could it possibly cost $100B to upgrade a "signalling system"? Widespread corruption drives up costs for all MTA projects. https://nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html https://nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-cons...
trappistOne 8y ago
Long story short, everyone sits on their ass and pretends to be borderline incompetent while clocking overtime to take longer than normal to do anything routine. Why? Because, gee, it'd really be a shame if some of these buildings happened to fall down and go boom, on account of some kind of cave in... Wouldn't want that to happen, would we? That means we gotta go real slow, and be real careful, but hey, if you think youse can do it faster, hey why not grab a shovel and help us dig some of these ditches. They ain't gonna dig themselves, is they? Oh, oh, sorry, I didn't realize you was wearing your expensive clothes on account ah some kinda hot date tonight! By all means! Don't let us holds youse up! We'll just goes back down into the catacombs and dig another dungeon for ya. No problem, boss!
repolfx 8y ago
It shouldn't cost that much, but signalling is surprisingly expensive because pre-computerised signalling systems rely on large amounts of heavy equipment installed trackside, and trains can't run without coherent signalling. So changing it can only be done in small pieces, small parts at a time, yet labour and equipment must be constantly available. For this reason the productivity of railway workers is quite low but unavoidably so; they spend most of their time just waiting for tracks to clear.
wwarner 8y ago
The $100B proposal was a complete overhaul, including the signaling system, major reworking of subway station, track improvements etc. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/magazine/subway-new-york-city-public-transportation-wealth-inequality.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/magazine/subway-new-york-...

Genuine question - how could it possibly cost $100B to upgrade a "signalling system"?

by abraae 8y ago

Genuine question - how could it possibly cost $100B to upgrade a "signalling system"?

> Genuine question - how could it possibly cost $100B to upgrade a "signalling system"? Widespread corruption drives up costs for all MTA projects. https://nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html https://nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-cons...

trappistOne 8y ago

Long story short, everyone sits on their ass and pretends to be borderline incompetent while clocking overtime to take longer than normal to do anything routine. Why? Because, gee, it'd really be a shame if some of these buildings happened to fall down and go boom, on account of some kind of cave in... Wouldn't want that to happen, would we? That means we gotta go real slow, and be real careful, but hey, if you think youse can do it faster, hey why not grab a shovel and help us dig some of these ditches. They ain't gonna dig themselves, is they? Oh, oh, sorry, I didn't realize you was wearing your expensive clothes on account ah some kinda hot date tonight! By all means! Don't let us holds youse up! We'll just goes back down into the catacombs and dig another dungeon for ya. No problem, boss!

repolfx 8y ago

It shouldn't cost that much, but signalling is surprisingly expensive because pre-computerised signalling systems rely on large amounts of heavy equipment installed trackside, and trains can't run without coherent signalling. So changing it can only be done in small pieces, small parts at a time, yet labour and equipment must be constantly available. For this reason the productivity of railway workers is quite low but unavoidably so; they spend most of their time just waiting for tracks to clear.

wwarner 8y ago

The $100B proposal was a complete overhaul, including the signaling system, major reworking of subway station, track improvements etc. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/magazine/subway-new-york-city-public-transportation-wealth-inequality.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/magazine/subway-new-york-...