Excessive steelwork

Being a resident of the Reading area and having an office location close to the Great Western Main Line, I have followed with interest both the progress of electrification and its rising costs.

Early on in the project, I recall that residents further west were complaining about the visual impact of the masts and associated steelwork. I have to admit that I scoffed at this at first, having in my mind a view of the East Coast and West Coast Main Lines, HS1 and so on...

However, having now been further west along the route, and also compared pictures in RAIL, it is clear to see that the new design of structure used by Network Rail on this project is of a significantly heavier construction. I can now understand why the complaints about the visual impact have been raised.

Given the significant amounts of additional steelwork required for this new design, could that also go part of the way to explaining the huge increase in cost?

I was once informed that HS1 was essentially a French design of railway in the UK. It has now been in service for upwards of ten years and generally performs well. If this design and others are proven by time, why has Network Rail felt it necessary to change the design for the Great Western (and presumably other recent and forthcoming projects) so significantly?

Would a ‘lighter’ construction, but with newer components such as silicon rubber insulators in lieu of porcelain, still give suitable performance but at lower cost? Stuart Stone, Reading