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Conclusions

M. Ramachandran

in Metro Rail Projects In India: A Study In Project Planning

This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. There is no doubt that, at a time when Delhi’s urban transport problems were getting more and more complex, the bold decision to have a ... More

This chapter presents some concluding thoughts from the author. There is no doubt that, at a time when Delhi’s urban transport problems were getting more and more complex, the bold decision to have a metro in the city has made a big difference. There are various landmarks which the Delhi Metro has been able to achieve: Phase I was completed ahead of time; work was completed within estimated completion costs; the unit cost of construction remained one of the lowest; it is the first metro to get ISO 14001 certification for Environmental Management System and the first metro to earn carbon credit. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s success is attributed to an innovative company structure, a unique work culture, and organizational values reflected in a lean but effective organization, punctuality, professional competence, a quick decision-making process, and the sufficient delegation of powers.Less

Post‐Second World War British Railways: The Unintended Consequences of Insufficient Government Intervention

Timothy Leunig

in Paradoxes of Modernization: Unintended Consequences of Public Policy Reform

This chapter examines the performance of Britain's railways, as measured by the speed of travel. It looks at the post-1945 period and assesses not the overall gains in speed, but the distribution of ... More

This chapter examines the performance of Britain's railways, as measured by the speed of travel. It looks at the post-1945 period and assesses not the overall gains in speed, but the distribution of those gains across different routes. In short, the question the chapter asks is: did British Rail invest in the right lines? The chapter first demonstrates that there was considerable heterogeneity in the extent to which speeds improved on different lines. It then shows that this cannot be explained by ex ante and unalterable technical factors. Nor is it in line with an equality-based social welfare function, or obvious commercial criteria. Having shown that there is no compelling reason for what we observe, it is shown that different patterns of improvement were possible. It is argued that decisions on where to invest were made by British Rail management, before indicating that Government, acting in accordance with political incentives, could have produced a railway system that better met the needs of those who travelled on it.Less

Operating the 1974 Railways Act: Financial Results, Organisational Responses, and Relations with Government

Terry Gourvish

in British Rail 1974–1997: From Integration to Privatisation

This chapter begins with a discussion of decline in British Rail's financial performance between 1974 and 1979. It then discusses the impetus for organizational reform, the new organization of 1977, ... More

This chapter begins with a discussion of decline in British Rail's financial performance between 1974 and 1979. It then discusses the impetus for organizational reform, the new organization of 1977, the subsidiary businesses, British Rail's strained relationship with the government, and the white paper on Nationalized Industries of March 1978.Less

Investment and the Channel Tunnell

Terry Gourvish

in British Rail 1974–1997: From Integration to Privatisation

This chapter focuses on railway investments. Topics discussed include investment promotion, reduced investment spending in 1990, the need for project management and procurement, and investments on ... More

This chapter focuses on railway investments. Topics discussed include investment promotion, reduced investment spending in 1990, the need for project management and procurement, and investments on Channel Tunnel services and the High-Speed Rail Link.Less

Metro Rail System in Delhi

M. Ramachandran

in Metro Rail Projects In India: A Study In Project Planning

This chapter discusses the development of the metro rail system in Delhi. It details the various phases of the project from proposal to implementation. Implemented by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation ... More

This chapter discusses the development of the metro rail system in Delhi. It details the various phases of the project from proposal to implementation. Implemented by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) as a joint ownership by the Government of India and Government of Delhi, the Delhi Metro completed 65 km of Phase I in record time. By September 2010, it became a 186 km network with a cost of around Rs 29,800 crore. The metro has been making operational profits from the first day and it has set benchmarks for project execution quality and delivery within cost and time as well as in operations and maintenance.Less

The Rail Review and its Aftermath, 2004–5

Terry Gourvish

in Britain’s Railways, 1997–2005: Labour's Strategic Experiment

This chapter begins by discussing the departmental review of the railway industry, announced in January 2004, provoked by increasing concerns about how much the government was spending on ... More

This chapter begins by discussing the departmental review of the railway industry, announced in January 2004, provoked by increasing concerns about how much the government was spending on infrastructure maintenance and renewal, enhancement projects, and franchising operations during 2003–4. Subsequently, it talks about the creation of the White Paper and the discussion of issues such as costs and performance, franchise remapping, regulation and safety, market participation/open access, ROSCO leasing, and devolution. It then discusses several points with regard to monitoring costs in the rail industry and in Network Rail, and the winding up of the SRA.Less

Leading Railway Builder versus Controversial Project Manager

Rikkie Yeung

in Moving Millions: The Commercial Success and Political Controversies of Hong Kong's Railway

Part III of this book compares the experiences of the MTRC and the KCRC in new railway and property development. This chapter compares the strategies and experiences of new project governance of the ... More

Part III of this book compares the experiences of the MTRC and the KCRC in new railway and property development. This chapter compares the strategies and experiences of new project governance of the MTRC and the KCRC. Differences in project management strategies and political situations account for the KCRC's public controversies in railway projects. Both corporations went through an internationally unique experience during the Sino-British row over new railways; and they did not deal with those challenges in the same way for different reasons. In particular, both the Airport Railways and West Rail cases were related to Sino-British diplomatic tensions over Hong Kong's political transition but handled very differently.Less

Technological Advances in the Maritime Sector: Some Implications for Trade, Modernization and the Process of Globalization in the Nineteenth Century

David M. Williams and John Armstrong

Lewis R. Fischer and Even Lange (eds)

in Maritime History as Global History

This essay examines the impact of three tremendous developments in maritime transport technology - the steamship, the telegraph, and the railway - on global industrialisation and the advent of the ... More

This essay examines the impact of three tremendous developments in maritime transport technology - the steamship, the telegraph, and the railway - on global industrialisation and the advent of the ‘Second Global Age’. It is divided into three parts: the first surveys the development of steam navigation and locomotion by country and continent; the second explores the relationship between maritime trade and the ‘new world economy’ - particularly the impact of shortened distances and the increase in availability of information; and the third examines the challenges for maritime merchants that developed alongside the improved global communication systems. It concludes that both transport and communication were essential to the development of a world economy, and that British maritime activity was a crucial contributory element.Less

Travel Writing in the Marketplace

Innes M. Keighren, Charles W. J. Withers, and Bill Bell

in Travels into Print: Exploration, Writing, and Publishing with John Murray, 1773-1859

The production of books of travel and exploration by the house of Murray took place in a context of an increasingly industrialised economy, especially so from the 1830s in terms of the technologies ... More

The production of books of travel and exploration by the house of Murray took place in a context of an increasingly industrialised economy, especially so from the 1830s in terms of the technologies of book production. The firm used several outlets—the Family Library, the Home and Colonial Library and Reading for the Rail—in order to respond to the emergence of different sectors within the literary marketplace. Several travel books appeared in these series but, in the main, the travel imprint of the house of Murray was too serious and too costly for the new reading audiences that appeared by the later 1830s and 1840s.Less

Delivering Public Services

S. K. DAS

in Building a World-Class Civil Service for Twenty-First Century India

In a recent report by the World Bank, the delivery of public services in India was cited as poor. The report attributed the bad service delivery to poor accountability and lack of autonomy. The ... More

In a recent report by the World Bank, the delivery of public services in India was cited as poor. The report attributed the bad service delivery to poor accountability and lack of autonomy. The problem appears to have something to do with the institutional mechanism for service delivery. This chapter examines the institutional mechanisms adopted by several countries—United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Sweden, and Canada for service delivery in order to determine an appropriate mechanism that could improve the capacity of India’s civil service to deliver effective public services. The key for these countries is the creation of executive agencies for delivering public services. In India, special purpose vehicles have been set up to deliver public services. This chapter also describes about the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) and the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).Less

From State to Market

Ronen Shamir

in Current Flow: The Electrification of Palestine

This chapter considers the relationship between the expanding grid and state-run projects and installations. It traces the role of commercial firms, government officials, politicians and engineers in ... More

This chapter considers the relationship between the expanding grid and state-run projects and installations. It traces the role of commercial firms, government officials, politicians and engineers in securing, or failing to secure, state expenditures. One focus is on the way contracts with the government enabled the expansion of the grid to select relatively remote locations. However the main focus is on the failed attempt to electricity the state-owned Jaffa-Jerusalem Railway. Analyzing the links between technical and financial considerations, the thrust of the chapter is in theorizing state-market relations not only in terms of techno-political assemblies but also in respect to their spatial and demographic implications. The main finding is that while the electrification of the railways may have contributed to the consolidation of a national infrastructure, the failure to thus electrify further deepened ethnic-based differential access to electricity.Less

Why the No. 7 Line Stops in Flushing

Joseph B. Raskin

in The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System

This chapter discusses the history of one of the New York City subway system’s most heavily traveled lines. The early plans called for a line that extended much further into Queens. A look is taken ... More

This chapter discusses the history of one of the New York City subway system’s most heavily traveled lines. The early plans called for a line that extended much further into Queens. A look is taken as to why the full line was never built, despite the best efforts of many people in Queens. Emphasis is also given to the impact of the construction of the Flushing line had upon the development of the northern part of the Borough of Queens.Less

To the City Limits and Beyond

Joseph B. Raskin

in The Routes Not Taken: A Trip Through New York City's Unbuilt Subway System

At several points in the 20th Century, plans were put forth to expand and develop a commuter rail system beyond what now exists. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s East Side Access project, ... More

At several points in the 20th Century, plans were put forth to expand and develop a commuter rail system beyond what now exists. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s East Side Access project, now under way, is first project to have actually started. Another plan, dating back over a century, called for expanding the Hudson Tubes (now the PATH lines), and connecting it with a subway system then being proposed. Other, even more ambitious plans were considered. Chapter 7 discusses those plans.Less

Hawthorne and The Celestial Railroad

Kyle Gann

in Charles Ives's Concord: Essays after a Sonata

Ives based his “Hawthorne” movement on various stiroes of Hawthorne’s, and one novel – The House of the Seven Gables – that he names, though with only a few hints of what musical passages link to ... More

Ives based his “Hawthorne” movement on various stiroes of Hawthorne’s, and one novel – The House of the Seven Gables – that he names, though with only a few hints of what musical passages link to what stories. Two other Ives pieces, the subsequent “The Celestial Railroad” (based on an eponymous Hawthorne story, a satire of John Bunyan’s Pilgrims’ Progress) and the scherzo of the Fourth Symphony, share material with the “Hawthorne” movement, and the parallels say much about the Concord Sonata’s philosophical underpinnings.Less

Big River and Scouting the Southwest Corner: August to September 1861

John R. Kelso

Christopher Grasso (ed.)

in Bloody Engagements: John R. Kelso's Civil War

In this chapter, John Russell Kelso shares his experience at Big River and the Southwest Corner between August and September 1861. Kelso's regiment was sent to Big River, on the Iron Mountain Rail ... More

In this chapter, John Russell Kelso shares his experience at Big River and the Southwest Corner between August and September 1861. Kelso's regiment was sent to Big River, on the Iron Mountain Rail Road, to help fend off an attack by the rebels led by Meriweather Jeff Thompson. He was also ordered by Col. Sempronius H. Boyd to go out in disguise and pass along the entire southern border of Missouri to the Southwest corner, and see if it would be possible for his regiment alone to march through on that line. At Iron Mountain, Kelso and John Newton McConnell went to scout about the country and made one trip to the top of the Pilot Knob. When he arrived in Rolla, Kelso found his regiment already there, waiting orders to move on toward Springfield with John C. Frémont's army.Less

Management Response in British Coastal Shipping Companies to Railway Competition

John Armstrong

in The Vital Spark: The British Coastal Trade, 1700-1930

This essay examines the way British coastal shipping companies handled competition from the rail industry. It explores the role of coastal shipping before the advent of rail; the impact of steam on ... More

This essay examines the way British coastal shipping companies handled competition from the rail industry. It explores the role of coastal shipping before the advent of rail; the impact of steam on short-sea shipping; the perceived minor threat of short-distance early railways; the direct threat of long-distance rail lines that began to appear in the 1840s; and the effectiveness of the attempts to address railway competition - the search for technological improvement, market segmentation, and re-pricing structures in particular. It concludes that the coaster and railway industries co-existed peacefully during the late nineteenth century as it served both of their interests, and assures that any serious threat to rail that the coastal industry could instigate would be met with swift and crippling retaliation, so they opted not to risk upsetting the balance.Less

The Cinderella of the Transport World: The Historiography of the British Coastal Trade

John Armstrong

in The Vital Spark: The British Coastal Trade, 1700-1930

This final chapter evaluates the historiography of the British coastal trade as it stood when first published in 1996. It highlights the lack of academic research into coastal shipping, offers ... More

This final chapter evaluates the historiography of the British coastal trade as it stood when first published in 1996. It highlights the lack of academic research into coastal shipping, offers suggestions for the scholarly neglect of the subject, and outlines the current knowledge of the economics and overall impact of the coastal trade in relation to the modernisation of Britain. It highlights articles discussing the impact of canal and rail construction, the impact of both World Wars, and the multifaceted role of Coastal Shipping in an industrialised Britain. It concludes that without coastal shipping, coal and foodstuffs would have been much more difficult to distribute around Britain and industrialisation and urbanisation would have struggled to progress as a result. It echoes the call of previous chapters for further research into the British coastal shipping, to better understand the sector and its importance to maritime Britain.Less

“Our Little Company:” The Wilsons and North Eastern Railway Shipping Company Limited, 1906-1935

David J. Starkey and Richard Gorski

in Harbours and Havens: Essays in Port History in Honour of Gordon Jackson

This essay explains how Wilsons and the North Eastern Railway Shipping Company (WNERSC) helped shape the Port of Hull in the early twentieth century. It explores the development of the company in ... More

This essay explains how Wilsons and the North Eastern Railway Shipping Company (WNERSC) helped shape the Port of Hull in the early twentieth century. It explores the development of the company in tandem with the port, through three avenues: why the company was established and the particular way it was formed; an assessment of earnings and profit, illustrated with multiple expenses tables; and an attempt to identify the particular factors that enabled WNERSC to flourish for thirty years as an independent company. Authors David J. Starkey and Richard Gorski assert that the mutually-beneficial relationship between dock and railway enabled the successful development of the port.Less