Comments on Privatization of the Deux-Montagnes Line:How to Value a Transit Line?

By: ant6n

2018-01-24T20:48:37Z

@Fraser
Well, I did try to be relatively optimistic about costs. The thing is that a new tunnel would not have stations, but that’s where most of the cost is for subway lines. A new Mont-Royal tunnel is not comparable to a subway line, because it doesn’t have stations. I think the two German tunnels I compared to are quite reasonable, and in general the construction costs between Germany and Canada seem relatively similar.

For the surface line I did just pick the assumed cost of the REM itself. The weight standard is moot — if we rebuilt the Deux-Montagnes line from scratch, it wouldn’t be built for 22T axle weights or anything — the 14T the REM has are fine (I guess we could go up to 16T or 18T for more future proofing…) I found some research indicating that increasing weights by double digit percentages only increases costs of bridge costs by single digit percentages, I doubt this is the main cost factor here.

By: Fraser Pollock

2018-01-18T15:08:36Z

Just using simple values, I believe an equivalent line built from scratch to the same weight standard would cost somewhere between $3.898-$5.160 Billion. Keep in mind structural concrete has been increasing in cost 2-3 times the cost of inflation every year in North America since the 1990’s and structural steel costs have always varied wildly year to year.

By: Fraser Pollock

2018-01-18T14:57:26Z

Any new heavy rail or main line railway capable right of way that has to be created from scratch is going to be very expensive. Working in the industry, I can tell you that, the tunnel section would cost (depending on geology and the building techniques used) between $300-$375 million per kilometre. A double tracked surface section (not including bridges and under/over passes) would be $75-$125 million per kilometre.