T he 100-km, $19-billion Elizabeth rail line opened in London last month after more than a decade of construction. Teams used a digital workflow to install over 27,000 cladding panels in three of the new stations, reducing needed weight and improving efficiency.
While still jubilant about the unprecedented amount of federal funding for transit, rail advocates also are concerned about the shortage of workers, the need to better manage project risks and the ability to implement mandated asset-management plans for their infrastructure and vehicles.
As the first anniversary of work on the U.K.’s 225-km London-Birmingham high-speed railroad (HS2) is reached, news of a major bentonite leak of more than 1,500 cu m at the project’s first tunnel has revived opposition to the project.
Unforeseen soil conditions and the addition of a protective rail-operations barrier will delay a scheduled 2023 completion of the $2-billion Southwest Light Rail Transit project in Hennepin County, Minn.