Quote:
Originally Posted by Busy Bee
There's nothing unwise about these future provisions, it's actually the definition of good planning.
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Also, everywhere else in the world, multiple lines are often under construction simultaneously, allowing specialized workers, engineers, and consultants to continue to work for long periods of time. Building the four phases of the Second Ave. subway with orders to proceed spaced about 1 year apart would have been a lot cheaper than waiting 10 years in between each phase.
The high costs of piecemeal construction are compounded when all of the provisions for future extensions that are built are never used or end up being used in a different fashion. For example, the MTA plans to
not use one of the never-used 1970s-era sections of the Second Ave. line in Lower Manhattan.
Costs are also higher in the United States because almost zero rolling stock is built in the United States. If you look at the Dow 30 back in the 1960s, railroad equipment manufacturers were some of the biggest companies on the planet. With the exception of GE, none remained after the collapse of passenger rail.
Not only must we buy from foreign companies, we also rarely coordinate equipment across the country. At this point we could have picked a standard for light rail (i.e. LA's light rail) and every city building a light rail line could have built to that standard. Instead we have at least a dozen different types of light rail in operation across the United States.