Is this a railway?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

Luton Airport DART from the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page)

An airport shuttle that King Charles has already ridden on is due to open to the public by Easter.

The Luton Direct Air-Rail Transit (DART) system, linking the airport with Luton Airport Parkway railway station, was approved in 2017 and was due to open by the end of 2020.

[Mark A]

1.4 miles and £290 million. Ouch. Very close to the construction cost for the Scottish Borders Railway phase 1 to Tweedbank.

Mark

[Bmblbzzz]

It runs on rails so I'd say, yes, it is a railway.

[stuving]

1.4 miles and £290 million. Ouch. Very close to the construction cost for the Scottish Borders Railway phase 1 to Tweedbank.

Mark

It's almost twice the length of the Gatwick Airport Shuttle Transit, which cost £45M to rebuild (i.e. no big civils) in 2008-10. That does the same job, and while runs on a different guideway, either could be called rails or not rails. That one uses its own motors rather than string, but I'd guess it ought to cost much the same. It's just what it costs to insert something under- or overground at an airport, at least if a few things go wrong along the way.

[Electric train]

On the National railways the Permanent Way gangers used to be know as "Plate Layers" dating back to the early kind of railway a plateway, tramway or wagonway, where the rails are made from cast iron and were more flat iron plates with raised sides where conventional horse drawn waggons were used.

[grahame]

Behind a paywall in The Telegraph

On board Britain’s newest – and most expensive – train journey

I was among the first to travel on the new £4.90 Luton Dart, the country’s costliest per mile rail link

How does that compare to the £28 single from Llanberis to Snowdon Summit?

[Clan Line]

1.4 miles and £290 million.

Mark

I was looking around at the costs of various transport projects to see how much a motorway costs to build..................when I came across this in an old (2011) BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item:

"The government is currently consulting on the first section of High Speed 2, a £17bn railway from London to Birmingham."

Laugh or cry   

[ChrisB]

Behind a paywall in The Telegraph

On board Britain’s newest – and most expensive – train journey

I was among the first to travel on the new £4.90 Luton Dart, the country’s costliest per mile rail link

How does that compare to the £28 single from Llanberis to Snowdon Summit?

Probably dearer - how long is that railway?

It isn't £4.90 though until it properly opens....so they weren't.

[TaplowGreen]

1.4 miles and £290 million.

Mark

I was looking around at the costs of various transport projects to see how much a motorway costs to build..................when I came across this in an old (2011) BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page) news item:

"The government is currently consulting on the first section of High Speed 2, a £17bn railway from London to Birmingham."

Laugh or cry   

Both?

[grahame]

Behind a paywall in The Telegraph

On board Britain’s newest – and most expensive – train journey

I was among the first to travel on the new £4.90 Luton Dart, the country’s costliest per mile rail link

How does that compare to the £28 single from Llanberis to Snowdon Summit?

Probably dearer - how long is that railway?

It isn't £4.90 though until it properly opens....so they weren't.

Luton Parkway to Luton Airport - 1.4 miles at £4.90 = £3.50 per mile
Llanberis to Summit - 5.0 miles at £28.00 = £5.60 per mile
Lynmouth to Lynton - 0.2 miles at £5.00 = £10.00 per mile

[Oxonhutch]

Lynmouth to Lynton - 0.2 miles at £5.00 = £10.00 per mile

Is this horizontal or true distance travelled?

[grahame]

Lynmouth to Lynton - 0.2 miles at £5.00 = £10.00 per mile

Is this horizontal or true distance travelled?

True distance. From https://www.cliffrailwaylynton.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/2022-Cliff-Railway-Visitor-Guide.pdf

Built in 1888, rising 500ft on 862ft of steep track with a gradient of 57%

[stuving]

That is based on two assumptions: that horizontal and vertical distance are priced at the same rate, and that the overall price is the root-mean-square of those. Both assumptions are questionable, to say the least.

[grahame]

That is based on two assumptions: that horizontal and vertical distance are priced at the same rate, and that the overall price is the root-mean-square of those. Both assumptions are questionable, to say the least.

The original article quotes "cost per mile" so is directional none-specific.  It doesn't say up or down, east or west, or north or south.

[rogerpatenall]

Lynmouth to Lynton - 0.2 miles at £5.00 = £10.00 per mile

Apart from any other consideration, the math seems questionable to me.