HS2 vs Technology

Since returning to the UK 8 weeks ago, I've spent far too much time on the rail network. Having lived in France for a little over a year, I've become used to travelling by TGV. So you'd think I'd be excited  that plans for HS2, the high speed rail network to run between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds are being cooked up. But not so. 

It takes no genius to see that, unlike Britain, France is a country with a vast geography: The distance between Paris - the capital, and Marseille - the 3rd biggest city, is 774km. In contrast, the distance between London and Birmingham, the city to benefit first from this new superfast infrastructure, is just 188km. In fact, there will be a measly 30 minute saving on journeys made by train between the two cities once HS2 is up and running. 

The cost of the new railway is being estimated at £42.6bn. For the benefit of 30 minutes on journeys, I'm sceptical that this investment will be recuperated in any reasonable period of time, if ever. The works undertaken to the countryside and the repossessions of land will change the face of the Midlands. This would be fine, if the economic benefit could outweigh the ecological cost. However, I'd like to make one proposition that would save the government several billion pounds: upgrading technology. 

One thing that France and Japan did not have when their TGV and Shinkansen were developed was mobile technology: people needed to get between cities quickly and affordably. Nowadays, people have constant access to the internet. They can work when and where they like. Except between Plymouth and London, and Sheffield and York - as recent journeys have revealed to me. The train network is suffering from a lack of investment in technology. 3G is hard to find between major hubs (I often find myself desperately downloading and replying to emails in the 5 minutes that I'm afforded in each station) and WiFi, if available at all, requires a sign-up and hefty fees that don't represent the flexibility necessary for a modern workaholic. 

If we could invest heavily in technology and lower the cost for passengers, it would enable businessmen and women to work efficiently on the train. Rather than reducing their journey time by mere minutes, their efficiency and productivity could be increased significantly between offices. The benefits to local communities close to train lines would be profound also: the Countryside Alliance has been vocal about rural mobile signals. If we enabled 4G along the rail network, rural towns and villages could stand to benefit greatly. 

I'm concerned that we've missed the train when it comes to High Speed. Perhaps forward-thinking, rather than spending money on reactionary and negligible public transport infrastructure, could see this country excel in this, the 21st Century.