Re: Fwd: Inside the slow-rolling disaster of Ottawa's $9-billion LRT project
  TP

Regarding the comment in the article about the "overwhelming dependence on
the private sector", there's nothing wrong with using the private sector
(which is the major source of input nowadays anyway), the issue is sourcing
the wrong suppliers in the private sector. To know where the best advice
and products lie needs a competent and knowledgeable commissioning agency.
Having an unskilled or deskilled agency is asking for trouble.

I can see that even the writer of this critical article fell for all the
Alstom BS. For all their genuine achievements in other rail technology, as
far as trams are concerned they produce a cheap basic 19th century tram
with pretty-looking modern outfitting on it. Challenge them to do more
sophisticated engineering and they will fall down. That's something that
companies like Bombardier and Skoda have the skills to do. Perhaps that's
why Alstom is lucky that it will take over Bombardier. In any case, German
tram expertise is now scattered across countless consultancies, so anybody
can access it if they want to - and CAF does just that and uses it to wipe
Bombardier off the market. Management consultants and their "streamlining"
have a lot to answer for.

Tony P

On Thursday, 3 December 2020 at 10:11:24 UTC+11 Mal Rowe wrote:

> Thanks Greg (and George) - that's a very useful commentary on a recurrent

> problem in new systems.

>

> Mal Rowe - glad to be in a city with a legacy.

>

>

> On 03/12/2020 09:54, Greg Sutherland wrote:

>

>

>

> https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/blood-on-the-tracks-why-ottawas-flagship-project-crashed

> https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/blood-on-the-tracks-why-ottawas-flagship-project-crashed

>

> Enlightenment for newly planned systems.

>

> George Barsky

>

>

>