Per mile catenary costs

[Kyleje]

Does anyone have a general range on how much it costs to construct constant tension catenary per mile in the U.S.?

[Railway_Man]

About $1 million per mile. Assuming you don’t have to build any significant distribution structures, substations, etc. Also, that you’re not including in that cost any clearance projects, such as raising tunnel roofs, lowering tunnel floors, raising bridges, etc.

RWM

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Best data point on that I know of is Amtrak’s New Haven - Boston electrification in the 1996 - 2000 time frame - $310 Million for 155 route-miles of mostly double-track, as best as I can recall - which correlates very well with RWM’s figure of $1 Million per track-mile. The high-speed nature of that installation and working ‘with traffic’ and with difficult/ limited access conditions would roughly compensate for escalation/ inflation to today, and then some.

The only way to get a more precise figure would be to prepare at least a preliminary design and specifications for a specific route, and then approach one of the very few firms that are qualified to do that are solicit bids or at least an informed ‘budgetary’ stage estimate.

• Paul North.

[blue_streak_1]

Best data point on that I know of is Amtrak’s New Haven - Boston electrification in the 1996 - 2000 time frame - $310 Million for 155 route-miles of mostly double-track, as best as I can recall - which correlates very well with RWM’s figure of $1 Million per track-mile. The high-speed nature of that installation and working ‘with traffic’ and with difficult/ limited access conditions would roughly compensate for escalation/ inflation to today, and then some.

The only way to get a more precise figure would be to prepare at least a preliminary design and specifications for a specific route, and then approach one of the very few firms that are qualified to do that are solicit bids or at least an informed ‘budgetary’ stage estimate.

• Paul North.

PDN’s figures are right on. A few items that may have changed the cost per mile were:…

1. About 2-2 1/2 miles of 3 and 4 tracks from NH Union station to Airline junction.

2. About 3 miles of extra tracks (4 or 5 ) Atwell - PVD - north.

3. A few locations of 3rd track along the route.

4. Extra tracks from Back Bay to and including all tracks at South station. ( South Station Platforms themselves are trolley type wiring not CAT).

5. All the tracks including loop at South Bay shops.

6. I do not know if constant tension CAT tensioned for 150+ MPH would cost more than maybe 90 MPH CAT.

I do not know if the line power was built as a single power or a +/- 25Kv auto transformer system. The later has been found to have less EMF cross section profiles.

[erikem]

Also, that you’re not including in that cost any clearance projects, such as raising tunnel roofs, lowering tunnel floors, raising bridges, etc.

In the 1991, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority conducted a series of hearings on electrifying the major freight routes in the L.A Basin to reduce air pollution. When all said and done, the cost estimate was 4B$, with half of that just going for clearance projects. The remaining 2B$ included locomotives, substations, changes in signaling as well as catenary.

• Erik

[ndbprr]

Several raroads have looked into electrifyng and rejected it for a variety of reasons. Several freight roads have gone completely to diesel.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

In the 1991, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority conducted a series of hearings on electrifying the major freight routes in the L.A Basin to reduce air pollution. When all said and done, the cost estimate was 4B$, with half of that just going for clearance projects. The remaining 2B$ included locomotives, substations, changes in signaling as well as catenary.

Wonder how much of that has now been accomplished or rendered unnecessary in the meantime by other projects, traffic and line changes, etc. - such as (but not limited to) the Alameda Corridor’s “trench”, etc. ? Not a significant fraction, I’m sure - but also more than zero.

• Paul North.

[blue_streak_1]

PDN: I forgot about the bridge clearance problems NH - BOS. There was about 6 - 8 overhead bridges either removed or raised before the CAT work was started. Do not know if that cost was included? Part of the raising was for freight car clearances as well.