Will HS2 Fail or Succeed?

Hi Andy, mea culpa if my comment was taken as a pointed comment at yourself, not intended. 


The point you illustrate in the Swedish ticketing scenario is exactly what I believe HS2 is missing in its thinking today, with little exponential thinking about mass transport tomorrow. We have systems like following coloured lines in hospitals to different wards, pulsing lights and using smart phones within buildings from reception to the room you are visiting in smart buildings linked to your GPS location position and destination (indoor way finding), etc. The main problem is that the HS2 solution to a 20th Century train solution was immediately decided to be another 20th Century train solution based on yesterday's technology and approaches.


The UK seems pathologically adverse to scanning globally for best practice and using exemplars from foreign countries on how to do things better, smarter, more cost effectively and with spiral evolution to future proof in its DNA concept and design. A British Empire and historic hubris that is holding us back - the entrepreneurial and innovation spirit has been dimmed for many reasons. 


As we move out of Covid-19 we have a real opportunity to frog leap conventional thinking and use a paradigm shift in thinking and future systems approach to provide a more sustainable, resilient and innovative clean tech era that moves us into 21st Century mass mobility solutions.

Hi Andy, mea culpa if my comment was taken as a pointed comment at yourself, not intended. 


The point you illustrate in the Swedish ticketing scenario is exactly what I believe HS2 is missing in its thinking today, with little exponential thinking about mass transport tomorrow. We have systems like following coloured lines in hospitals to different wards, pulsing lights and using smart phones within buildings from reception to the room you are visiting in smart buildings linked to your GPS location position and destination (indoor way finding), etc. The main problem is that the HS2 solution to a 20th Century train solution was immediately decided to be another 20th Century train solution based on yesterday's technology and approaches.


The UK seems pathologically adverse to scanning globally for best practice and using exemplars from foreign countries on how to do things better, smarter, more cost effectively and with spiral evolution to future proof in its DNA concept and design. A British Empire and historic hubris that is holding us back - the entrepreneurial and innovation spirit has been dimmed for many reasons. 


As we move out of Covid-19 we have a real opportunity to frog leap conventional thinking and use a paradigm shift in thinking and future systems approach to provide a more sustainable, resilient and innovative clean tech era that moves us into 21st Century mass mobility solutions.