New-Tech Europe Magazine | April 2017

He Who Goes First...Loses

Paul McLellan, Cadence

There is a saying, of course, that he who goes first wins. And sometimes, and in some ways, that is true. But not always, and especially not always in the long run. Forlorn Hope The most obvious example of going first being dangerous is the forlorn hope in a military context. They were the first people through a breach in the castle wall or whatever. Casualties were likely to be very high. To make this attractive, the rewards for survival were riches and promotions (and glory). London Underground Here's a different type of example. The London Underground (the "tube" - or subway, in American

terms) was opened in 1863. Initially, the tunnels were near the surface and were built by "cut and cover" - a big ditch is dug out, the tunnel is created, and then the surface is replaced. But later, the deeper lines were built with circular tunnels. These lines had to be built with Victorian tunneling technology. As a result, the tunnels are too narrow, and they are very windy since Victorian tunneling technology was not up to going through hard rock, so it had to go around. So that is what London is stuck with. You can't exactly widen a tunnel while keeping service running for about 20 hours per day. This is the same problem New York has with the Holland rail tunnel, which was one of the motivations for wanting to build

a second tunnel. The problem for London with the small bore is that the trains are very crowded. They are very hot in summer - there is no air conditioning and the tunnels are too small to add it. Some of the stations are very curved, leading to the famous "mind the gap" announcements (and by the way, it is an urban legend that the guy who voiced that message gets a royalty each time it is said). So the bottom line is that London had an underground railway when nobody else did, but it is stuck with 150-year old decisions that can't be changed. You know why Beijing's subway is better? Because they only really built it for the 2008 Olympics, so they could use modern technology and techniques.

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