New cable car crossing for River Thames!
Discussion
Jackleman said:
youngsyr said:
Guess who picks up the bill if TFL cannot find sufficient sponsorship?
Strikes me that it would be better to secure sponsorship before building, rather than the other way around, but hell, it's only taxpayers' money. Who cares?!
This whole argument about investing tax payers money I can understand, however I was proven wrong when they finally opened the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth, it has been a resounding success and from what I understand brings in a lot more money than the initial investment. Strikes me that it would be better to secure sponsorship before building, rather than the other way around, but hell, it's only taxpayers' money. Who cares?!
It would be nice if the powers that be were upfront about it and said it's going to cost X, we anticipate ticket revenues of Y, sponsorship of Z. However, the taxpayers potential liability is (X-Y) if the sponsors don't come forward.
Then, when the sponsors don't come forward and the anticipated ticket revenues are way below the ludicrous amounts in the plans, we can actually point to them and bring the people responsible to task (or at least shout at them whenever they're on TV).
zac510 said:
How much for a ride? I hate to sound cynical but it's going to be £5+ each way isn't it? Which renders it just another tourist gimmick.
Best you don't see how much the Millennium Eye costs...damn tourist gimmicks making money for London. Whatever next?Why do we hate our capital city so much?
Personally, I love it!
I 'hate' the East End etc but would head down to ride it! Would take friends and family visiting London as will be a brilliant view of teh Wharf and the bl00dy O2!
Bring it on....
And if it is as unsuccessful as the Eye, we will be gutted. Elsewhere in Europe, this would be loved and pushed forwards as if their next Eu subsidy was on the line
I 'hate' the East End etc but would head down to ride it! Would take friends and family visiting London as will be a brilliant view of teh Wharf and the bl00dy O2!
Bring it on....
And if it is as unsuccessful as the Eye, we will be gutted. Elsewhere in Europe, this would be loved and pushed forwards as if their next Eu subsidy was on the line
Bing o said:
Meanwhile the Tube is still overpriced, unreliable, not air conditioned and has no mobile network, and commuter services into over-land stations are still overcrowded....
As much as I occasionally moan about it (being from Yorkshire, that's my birthright ):- the tube isn't *that* expensive when you use Oyster or periodic travelcards. Single, paper ticketed journeys are fierce...but then people with a bit of savvy don't buy those.
- the reliability of it has been much better (anecdotally) than it was a few years ago IME. Though there are times when it goes up s
t creek. This is mostly down to the age of the infrastructure, IMO, and that we don't seem able to swallow closing lines down properly to allow decent windows for proper fixes rather than band aiding. I also suspect decent contracts aren't put in place to help try and guarantee the quality of repairs (which is no different to our road network and myriad other things govts get involved with).
- air conditioning. Age of the network. The tubes themselves were never designed to accommodate it. You would think that some lines might be able to be done easily enough (District being the key one), but the trains are a close fit on most lines, and losing internal space etc would be tough.
Still, with aircon available in things like an iQ, I'm sure someone should be able to come up with a solution.
- no mobile network. 2 minds on this. Data only would be fine. Having that many people all tempted to use their mobiles would get annoying very, very quickly. To be honest, I'd be up for all forms of public transport, and many public places (!), having voice calls blocked!
- overland commuter services are busy, granted. But then it depends where you live as to how much of a problem that is. Mine's fine - even if I don't get a seat, standing up's no hardship for sub-20mins.
Compare it to the transport systems serving our other major cities and I think you'll find that there are few better. Worldwide? Others all have their faults (the coverage of the London tube is excellent, for example. Probably the best there is).
The cable car? I reckon it'll get a sponsor quite easily, and should prove popular I reckon.
tinman0 said:
I have to admit, that a cable car running the a decent length of the Thames in London would be a fantastic idea. What better way to see the Thames from say Parliament up to Tower Bridge for instance? Pity this one is from the other side of Tower Bridge iirc. Still good fun though.
That does actually sound like a good idea. Obviously a cable car isnt going to be for commuting, so may as well make it worth the ride. Murph7355 said:
Compare it to the transport systems serving our other major cities and I think you'll find that there are few better. Worldwide?
I'm posting this response in my air-conditioned MRT ride 20 metres underground, and the trip is costing me 47p. I don't know what a Yorkshireman considers Worldwide, but it's further than Liverpool.Anyway, my point was that as a commuter of many a year, it would be nice if they did something for the average commuter for once rather than Johnny foreigner and the Olympics.
And I'm more than aware of the limitations facing the Tube, one of my best friends is an engineering PM on the Underground.
Murph7355 said:
- air conditioning. Age of the network. The tubes themselves were never designed to accommodate it. You would think that some lines might be able to be done easily enough (District being the key one), but the trains are a close fit on most lines, and losing internal space etc would be tough.
Still, with aircon available in things like an iQ, I'm sure someone should be able to come up with a solution.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/metro/12123.aspxStill, with aircon available in things like an iQ, I'm sure someone should be able to come up with a solution.
Granted, currently only on the "cut & cover lines" and not the deep tubes, but 40% of the network is a start!
Bing o said:
I'm posting this response in my air-conditioned MRT ride 20 metres underground, and the trip is costing me 47p. I don't know what a Yorkshireman considers Worldwide, but it's further than Liverpool.
Anyway, my point was that as a commuter of many a year, it would be nice if they did something for the average commuter for once rather than Johnny foreigner and the Olympics.
And I'm more than aware of the limitations facing the Tube, one of my best friends is an engineering PM on the Underground.
That's unfair, as the SMRT is amazing! Except the no eating and drinking rule, but apart from that, easily the best public transport I have used. Especially the awesome Singaporean children who, upon seeing my white skin, showed no hesitation on starting a conversation with me just to practice their Engrish, and then not believing me when castle is pronounced cas-el not cast-ell as she vehemently argued.Anyway, my point was that as a commuter of many a year, it would be nice if they did something for the average commuter for once rather than Johnny foreigner and the Olympics.
And I'm more than aware of the limitations facing the Tube, one of my best friends is an engineering PM on the Underground.
Fantastic city, and I'm not one bit jealous.
I'd use a cable car in London, but I'm from north of Watford Gap so when I go I'm a tourist.
tinman0 said:
Chrisgr31 said:
Slaav said:
Personally, I love it!
And if it is as unsuccessful as the Eye, we will be gutted. Elsewhere in Europe, this would be loved and pushed forwards as if their next Eu subsidy was on the line
Hang on, the Eye is remarkably successful isn't it?And if it is as unsuccessful as the Eye, we will be gutted. Elsewhere in Europe, this would be loved and pushed forwards as if their next Eu subsidy was on the line
Bing o said:
I'm posting this response in my air-conditioned MRT ride 20 metres underground, and the trip is costing me 47p. I don't know what a Yorkshireman considers Worldwide, but it's further than Liverpool....
The MRT is somewhat less than 150yrs old though. Isn't it And the geographic cover required/provided isn't the same. Nor are the number of journeys (not saying the MRT isn't good. Am very familiar with it).One would hope that any system built today would be significantly better in the technical aspects than any other system out there already.
The tube has it's faults. As does London. But some of them are at least understandable and the challenges to fixing them considerable.
(PS Transport system aside, one of the reasons I'm happy to be back in London versus Singapore has been made clear in the last week...changing seasons. Funny the things you miss eventually).
Oakey said:
dugt said:
That does actually sound like a good idea. Obviously a cable car isnt going to be for commuting, so may as well make it worth the ride.
Why? I'm sure they have commuter cable cars in New York?
Youtube video
IIRC the big problem with getting A/C onto the deep tunnels is finding somewhere to dump the heat. There's a massive amount of heat build up because the trains are a tight fit into the tunnels and therefore compress and heat the air as they move along, so a conventional heat exchanger wouldn't work very well.
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