edcayton Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 ...across the Thames from near the Dome (O2) to the Excel arena. I just heard that it has made its "maiden flight". I wasn't aware of any proposal for this, so it came as a surprise. I wonder if a Travelcard ticket will be valid on it. Certainly one to ride on' Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 28, 2012 A bit more here http://www.itn.co.uk/home/48834/London27s+first+cable+car+opens and here http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15959.aspx This report suggests that 'passengers with Travelcards and other Oyster Cards including Freedom Passes are exmept' but due to the poor standard of Emglish I can't work out if that means they are exempt from paying or such things are not permitted (I think it is the latter judging by another comment in the report - if so why not say so?). http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/projectsandschemes/15959.aspx Much more sense in this report and hard luck Ed http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/freedom-pass-travelcards-will-not-be-accepted-on-cable-car/201221561 The interesting thing as far as I'm concerned will be to see if my Oyster Card works on it - nothing on the 'net so far suggest that it won't but you never know. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Other reports suggest it's less of a transport link and more of a tourist attraction - apparently the cars run at half speed outside the peak period, and it finishes at 9pm, so no use for O2 Dome concertgoers. See http://www.londonreconnections.com/2012/tfl-confirm-cable-car-launch-details/ for a lot of comments and also more ticketing details. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 The Emirates cable car project has been in progress for only a year, but construction has been incredibly rapid since earlier this year. It's part of the transport infrastructure for the Olympic's, but will be another legacy left for the future. (n.b. The Dome is an Olympic venue.) If only other projects can be completed as quickly. Links to Photos....... DSCF2154.jpg 25944276.jpg ...and Video A SkyscraperCity topic thread starts here and extends to 55 pages, as of this morning. Quite a few photos in there, detailing progress. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 28, 2012 Oh lordy me! And I thought the cable cars were bad at Matlock Bath!! Sorry just me and my aversion to hanging off wires that might just go PING!!!! Other then that it looks a most interesting ride and piece of engineering I understand that low-flying military aircraft don't normally operate in this are so that makes it a bit safer. However during the Olympics if might be a different matter following a 'scramble' at Northolt Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted June 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 28, 2012 What I don't get is this - from what I can gather it was supposed to cost £35 million, funded from private capital. I've seen a figure of £63m including a contribution of £20m from the taxpayer as the final cost. My gripe is this - not how much it all amounted to, or where it comes from, but the ineptitude of the people who cost projects such as these. Do they just pluck figures from the ether, as pretty well most of these projects seem to go over budget by a huge degree - it seems to me that if I was as bad at my job as these people would appear to be then I would soon be down the road. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted June 28, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 28, 2012 What I don't get is this - from what I can gather it was supposed to cost £35 million, funded from private capital. I've seen a figure of £63m including a contribution of £20m from the taxpayer as the final cost. My gripe is this - not how much it all amounted to, or where it comes from, but the ineptitude of the people who cost projects such as these. Do they just pluck figures from the ether, as pretty well most of these projects seem to go over budget by a huge degree - it seems to me that if I was as bad at my job as these people would appear to be then I would soon be down the road. There seem to be three factors that cause tho sort of thing - having been involved with some fairly large projects over the years I've seen all of them first hand in one way or another. The first is sheer bad estimating although this didn't seem to be very common in latterday BR projects where control even on that stage was pretty tight but it can happen although often the third problem (see below) seems to be closely linked. The second thing is the 'moving goalposts syndrome' where what was originally asked for gets altered as things go along - sometimes this is a result of the third problem (below) but often it's a result of poor initial specification, lack of thought at the spec stage, and a failure to rigourously assess the project. And sometimes it's due to outside things changing or something not coming to light in the surveys but being found when the holes are dug - which in my view is usually down to lack of thought. The last big project I spec'd was estimated at £18 million + 5% and it came in well within tolerance except on one part which initially shot over budget because of poor work practices - but we stayed on estimate overall because the spec was never altered and the estimating was accurate. A so called 'soft' project I took over in my final job on the big railway was already way over estimate when it was dumped on me and it was clear within a few days that the original spec was never going to deliver what the users (who had not written the spec!) had asked for & needed and the software developers hadn't got a clue how they were going to get to what was needed and didn't know how much that would cost - on my recommendation the project was ended and we took what had been developed and used it as best we could; lots of dosh down the drain but at least twice as much saved. The third problem is accountants and The Treasury or its equivalent. They inevitably don't like spending money so they want the scope reduced. So the specifiers reduce the scope but don't change what they really want and then get it chucked in as variations - which cost umpteen times as much as the whatever would have done had it been in the original spec. This is common with military equipment and probably other Govt projects and no doubt the idea also gets used in local govt and some private companies. A slight variant on the third one is the contractors playing the variation order game although this also relates to poor initial spec or failure to hold fast on a spec. MetCamm in their final years were past masters of this - they would tender low (and probably barely profitable) because they knew the customer would want variations - and MetCamm variation orders were printed in gold leaf on velum judging by the figures which were sometimes involved. I reckon one reason they went bust was because some of their clients got wise to the game and stopped authorising all but critical VOs, if they authorised any at all. There might well be other things (sheer incompetence at every level?) but that lot is my experience of such things. And the able car - someone need a 'politically acceptable' estimate, so he got one; regrettably its relationship to the true estimated costs seem to have been tenuous to say the least. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SNCF stephen Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 BBC say it will operate with the Oyster Card system: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18619936 CABLE CAR FARES Adult single fare - £3.20 Child single fare - £1.60 Round trip - £6.40 Frequent traveller - £16 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alaninDM Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Content removed by Admin. Not the most welcome of first post as the content is verging in the inflammatory and political in one. I would request a read of the site rules again might be an idea before you post again please. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
roythebus Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 Having attended a meeting about Nuclear power on the Romney Marsh, someone pointed out that it's taken 5 years to plan a nuclear power station, 7 years to build the olympics, 5 years to finish WW2,and 9 years to extend Lydd airport runway 376meters! Now I can add the O2 Cable car in a year to the list! Or the old joke about the young Miss Sa'ara Pippeline laid by 7000 men in 5 years...(last heard on TV last week bTW) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redkiterail Posted June 28, 2012 Share Posted June 28, 2012 erm it was never part of the Olympic transport plans but as part of the major transport plans for the east Thames crossing the program was crashed and TFL said if it was available it would help but the transport plans for 2012 exclude the cable car Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastwestdivide Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Trust the Swiss to go one better, a cabriolet cable car with an open deck on top, opening today: http://www.stanserhorn.ch/en/ Mind you, if you're worried by the London fares, just look up the return fare on this one - Stans-Stanserhorn 68 francs about £45! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 I understand that low-flying military aircraft don't normally operate in this are so that makes it a bit safer. However during the Olympics if might be a different matter following a 'scramble' at Northolt Hi, Mike, I really doubt that, any scramble from Northolt be have to climb to round 6,000 feet, basically to stop there being a chance of them flying low over Heathrow airspace. Anyway, looks interesting, but is it suitable for a railway forum? Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 Anyway, looks interesting, but is it suitable for a railway forum? Simon In German the word Bahn is used for both systems. That good enough justification? The fare seems quite reasonable compared with other cable cars that I have used. It does seem a bargain compared to the wheel and at least, unlike the wheel, it does go from one place to another. £20 million of the budget is for contingencies according to Boris. He also claims that it is a bargain for the tax payer. Bernard Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Simon Posted June 29, 2012 Share Posted June 29, 2012 In German the word Bahn is used for both systems. That good enough justification? Bernard Yh, Fair Enough! Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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