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I am genuinely baffled by this accusation. How am I "trying to make myself sound good"?

Well, again looking at the Transit Costs Project database, the most expensive French HSR project is Lyon-Turin, which comes in at just over half the cost per kilometre of HS2 despite being 70% in tunnels. This is not just "slightly better unit rates" caused by economies of scale. I did not...

I never said that. Why do you think the data is "highly selective"? Why do you think it shows the Elizabeth line was good value for money? Okay, so what you're saying is that any comparison between different countries is irrelevant? Did you actually look at the data and see just how massively...

What's objectionable about asking a claim to be backed up with proof? You are making a claim that cost differences are due to economies of scale. The onus is on someone making a claim to provide proof. Again I bring up the Transit Costs Project - I might take their conclusions with a grain of...

I have no idea how the rapid decline of tramways after their fairly brief heyday is irrelevant.

Well, do you have suggestions for cutting costs? But where is your evidence that it's all down to economies of scale?

Well whether or not Network Rail is getting the consultant balance right, costs need to be brought down. The degree to which there is a difference in transport project construction costs makes it very hard to argue that it's just the result of wage differences and a lack of economies of scale!

What is your evidence for that? How can the concept of standardisation - as opposed to a specific design of standardised station - be responsible for a station being unpleasant? Again, look at post #6 in this thread, made by myself. Of course it's simplistic and wrong to just go "boo hoo...

Obviously I am not an expert, but as you will note I previously posted an academic study in this thread who's findings may be a starting point for discussion. "Things are expensive" is a copout. Why is railway construction more expensive in the UK compared to other European countries?

The problem is that the current system clearly isn't working. You can't shrug your shoulders and say "that's how it is" to everything as costs continue to rise.

I don't see how it has to be one or the other - something like HS2 is definitely a case of high costs leading to cutbacks in scope...

But that's not due to the concept of standardised stations... As I've said in this thread, others have stated that lacking in-house capability is a key driver of high costs.

You're making a false dichotomy between "paying for consultants" and "end product does not comply with standards" here...

The Transit Costs Project is probably worth a look - this was a look by a group of primarily American academics into why some countries' transit projects cost much more than they do in other countries. Personally I would take it with a pinch of salt (one of its authors is a crayonista per...

What announcement tomorrow?

As I said, it's not different in a crew logistics sense.

Quite a few do, like the Toei Asakusa line, which connects to the Keikyu and Keisei railways at its ends - a typical northbound train on it starts out with a Keikyu crew, swaps to a Toei crew when it joins the Asakusa line at Sengakuji, then finally switches to a Keisei crew at Oshiage, the...

Well, that and buses and the District.

At least some of the Japanese metro lines that through-run onto other commuter lines at their ends swap crews at these points, which from a staff logistics point of view is the same thing as the Elizabeth Line operating driverless on the core.

Depends on how you define "tourists". Most of Amtrak's ridership on its long-distance trains are visiting friends and family or going on holiday - only a fairly small amount are taking the train for the sake of taking the train. Of course, when compared to Via, Amtrak's long-distance network is...