The blue line and how it goes around
Got to read this Twitter thread by Jonathan Montpetit on the recurring announcement of the blue line extension.
Then there’s my timeline on the same topic.
Got to read this Twitter thread by Jonathan Montpetit on the recurring announcement of the blue line extension.
Then there’s my timeline on the same topic.
david100 22:56 on 2019-07-04 Permalink
I’m still just amazed that they’ve managed to get the cost up to 4.5 billion clams. That’s $775 million per km, which puts it among the most expensive on earth – and we’re not talking about digging under London or Paris. We’re talking the eastern Montreal badlands – ultra wide streets, super low property acquisition costs – and a government regulatory regime completely controlled by the province, that is, they can exempt the project from everything they want, including environmental review, lawsuits, the works.
Quebec labor costs aren’t particularly high, materials aren’t any more expensive than in Europe, there’s no great difference in compliance costs.
Does anyone know why this short extension should cost what it does?
Faiz Imam 23:24 on 2019-07-04 Permalink
Early 2018 the STM publshed a detailed breakdown of their costs, and why various aspects are more expensive than the Laval extension.
It actually has a lot of info, but it the end does not answer the question who costs are higher than elsewhere in the world.
Still worth a read though: http://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/affairespubliques/Communiques/ap_ligne_bleue_briefing_23_avril_final.pdf
david 01:20 on 2019-07-05 Permalink
Mm. That’s pretty unsatisfying.