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£385k is peanuts. I would think you could actually get this down a bit although I agree my £2k might be a bit light, they would want to recover the money within the franchise and include a finance charge. It would be very interesting to see the maintenance and fuel savings over the same period...

If so, that is about £2k per month. I read somewhere that a pacer costs about £20k a month, which is a national disgrace. The civil servants and commercial advisers who screwed that one up at privatisation have no idea of leasing business models. We would laugh in the face of somebody who tried...

Well I haven't seen anything here that convinces me the cost of these units should be anything more than a bit above notional plus cost of new kit amortised over the remaining life, let's say 10 years. Does anybody have a guesstimate of the capex cost of the conversion kit? Is there a...

I struggle to see how Porterbrook could manage to charge as much for a fully paid down asset with a bit of additional kit as a ROSCO is charging for a brand new train. How on earth can this be? Is it just a case of a ROSCO spotting an opportunity to ransom a situation and extract some more cash...

So it sounds like, whatever the best wiring solution, the Southport route could be a good option for the flex? Does the speed profile of a flex on diesel fit well with what would be the unwired portion of the route? Am I right in thinking the whole of the rest of the route to Manchester Airport...

How much of Manchester - Southport is or will become wired? Is there a case for wiring up to Wigan Wallgate and using flex on diesel from there to Southport?

Absolutely, but it was obviously a very serious aspiration - otherwise they would not have built phase 1 to mainline double track "high speed" standards. Rishworth must have enjoyed one of the most over specified train lines in the country for its eventual duties as a branch line. A hundred and...

Does anybody know how to get hold of back copies of the Railway Times? This webpage suggests an edition from way back might have details of another proposed but unconstructed fast Transpennine route: http://www.shmrc.org.uk/club-layouts/ogden-fold/

The fastest Huddersfield to Leeds is 19 minutes. I can see no reason why this can't be achieved from Brighouse. If anything it should be a couple of minutes quicker with less distance and a straighter run through Cooper Bridge. The fastest Halifax to Manchester is 46 minutes. The same should be...

I have found this article that cover the face that it was intended to continue the Rishworth branch knocking 5 miles out. How many minutes could that knock out of the journey?

If you were to only use existing infrastructure (except a new curve west of Bradford if there is not one there already) but with no stops at any stations in-between (and presuming a clear run at line speed in a 185), which of these would be quickest between Leeds and a central Manchester...

I have just read your post with interest. I accept that higher standards lead to higher costs but this should not lead to costs being above budget. I use the word arrogance because people involved in decision making should have been clear they were procuring to relevant standards and that was...

The situation with GW should have been foreseen - that is my biggest gripe. NR did not have the skills or experience in-house and clearly did not bring in the right skills or experience. I am lost as to why they had so much blind faith in their ability to competently roll out a major scheme with...

It would at least be a more productive use of your time than leaving sarcastic messages on forums. You are being a little greedy with your request for capital funds though, bearing in mind crossrail is costing aaproximately 15 billion. I am not sure you are the right person for the job.

According to Londonist, the station is built over the former warehouses of the Grosvernor Canal. That may provide a head start on digging out. I am not a one man QS, architect, and structural engineer and so I am afraid it is not possible for me to guess how much it would cost. The answer is...

In the vague hope London Victoria might be redeveloped in the not too distant future, I have always thought two fairly obvious options are: 1. To introduce a southern entrance at the far end of the platforms. 2. To dig out an undercroft in the main concourse and send arriving passengers for...

This is the irony of zone 2 extensions in South London. They can't go ahead because of outer London transfers at termini.

I would add that this sort of project might be about to become higher priority. Those seeking routes into London Victoria from the vast redevelopment areas around Battersea Park may well use that station. There are high density developments going up near most of the other stations. I have...

It has often struck me how many spaces we we need to include on a long journey just for when it "gets full" at the last few stations. This is particularly the case in South London where the trains now have to move tube style flows on top of medium distance commuter flows. Bearing in mind that...

Who are 'the cyclists'?