CityCyclingEdinburgh was launched on the 27th of October 2009 as "an experiment".
IT’S TRUE!
CCE is 16years old!
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It soon became useful and entertaining. There are regular posters, people who add useful info occasionally and plenty more who drop by to watch. That's fine. If you want to add news/comments it's easy to register and become a member.
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Major Scottish transport projects like dualling the A9 and extending Edinburgh’s tram line could cost up to seven times as much as similar European schemes, experts have revealed.
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http://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/scots-pay-high-price-for-better-road-and-rail-links-1-4158461
"up to" of course, but some things (even cycle infrastructure) do sometimes seem to have large price tags.
Taking the Borders railway as an example, what's most bemusing is that having spent such a fortune on the line (a project that I truly believe was worthwhile, worth the investment and much needed to open up the Borders and reinvigorate the area), you'd think they would have built it to be fast and up to date. Instead it's extremely slow and has built in obstacles to being improved in the future, such as bridges being too narrow to be extended to double track.
When we move to Stow in July, I have worked out that I am almost as fast jumping off the train at Gorebridge and cycling to Edinburgh Park as I would be staying on the train all the way round to South Gyle and walking from there.
I would prefer to cycle anyway because I enjoy the time on the bike but an hour to the centre of Edinburgh is disappointing - it's only 25 miles.
"I would prefer to cycle anyway because I enjoy the time on the bike but an hour to the centre of Edinburgh is disappointing - it's only 25 miles. "
I can understand that. There was a distinct lack of ambition. From Eskbank the journey into town by train makes a lot of sense though. Perhaps a third of the time of the bus and quicker than the car/bike.
Meanwhile the Swiss have opened a 35-mile-long high speed tunnel, with trains running up to 150mph and taking 1 million lorries off the road:
"I would prefer to cycle anyway because I enjoy the time on the bike but an hour to the centre of Edinburgh is disappointing - it's only 25 miles. "?
The borders railway is 35 miles long and takes 49 minutes, so 42.9 miles an hour, no worse than the Glasgow central line
"no worse than the Glasgow central line" - that's hardly a glowing recommendation.
From Stow to Edinburgh is 25 miles, I wasn't thinking from Tweedbank. Quoted average speed I have heard is 37 miles an hour. Doesn't seem very impressive for what is after all a brand new piece of infrastructure.
At the risk of sounding like an EEN commenter, there does seem to be something systematically wrong with the cost and time taken for Scottish infrastructure. I don't believe it has much to do with any engineering uniqueness in Scotland, so the cause must be human at some level. On an anecdotal level (apologies if I've posted this before), I live for about 4 months of the year in Edinburgh and 8 months in SE London. About a year ago, by coincidence roads near me in both places were resurfaced. In Edinburgh it was about 100 metres, and took nearly 2 weeks, in London it was at least 1/4 mile and was completed in a day with the bicycle logos painted on the road as well.
"no worse than the Glasgow central line"
Not the greatest thing though, a brand new line that's no better than one built 180 years ago (1838-1842 according to wikipedia).
If we lived in Gala and I worked in the middle of town I'd definitely get it, but if you have to bolt on 30+ minutes at either end of both journeys, I'm guessing the car (or even the bike!) is still quite competitive.
A fair chunk of the journey time for the Borders Railway is down to congestion on the eastern throat at Waverley and the frequency of stops through the Edinburgh suburbs which means the train never really gets up to speed until it leaves Gorebridge. It's also relatively challenging terrain - the climb up to Falahill is pretty steep in rail terms.
Journey times would have been quicker if it had been electrified (faster acceleration and lighter trains), but that would have added a fair amount of additional cost, probably enough for the line not to have been built at all.
I shall pass on my experience once I start using it in August! :)
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