[Magdalen] another train wreck

[Roger Stokes]

On 05/02/2015 13:11, Jim Guthrie wrote:
>>> Any information about eliminating these crossings by the construction
>>> of overpasses and underpasses?
>
>> It is a congested area of the country, and I suppose it may be  
>> impractical
>> to fix them all.
>
> Crossings are eliminated from time to time, but one bridge might cost 
> $100-million or more, and usually such a project requires several 
> bridges. And the NIMBYs fight them all the time because raising the 
> tracks will cause noise and dislocation during construction, and "ruin 
> their view"  when completed. There's an on and off battle royale about 
> this on the Long Island Railroad's Main Line in Nassau County these days.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge_%E2%80%93_Greenwich_Railway_Viaduct 
is a solution, but probably not one that would be acceptable today, 3.45 
miles of elevated railway in South-East London.  They are running a 
reduced train service at present of about a train a minute off-peak 
while they do a major remodelling exercise to increase capacity using 
new tracks.  For some of this they have taken the top floor off a 
building to put a bridge through where it was with the top floor of 
buildings on either side.  They've been working on it for a few years 
already and I think it's due for completion in 2018.

Roger