HS2. Is It
HS Too Late?
Here’s a controversial
blog in some aspects.
A non-scientific experiment carried out by myself and my
co-director Nick Brown has resulted in a ‘Top Gear’ style result.
Before I
state what the result was, the relevance to this experiment was due to the
regular cost updates and business return projection for the HS2 project.
Of
course we hear that this rail line will upturn a lot of countryside, and cause
a lot of noise and pollution and split communities in half along its route (I
wonder if I.K Brunel had this outcry?)
Looking at
the figures and the proposition it is hard to see what return of investment the
route may bring, but as with all things this big and directly controlled by a
government, the costs can be recouped by other means.
The route
seems a logical one. Connecting North & Northwest England with Midlands and
Greater London. This model has worked well in Japan, North America and closer
to home in France, linking Paris with Lyon, Toulouse and Marseille.
However,
the key is, that these rail routes have operated for years and brought benefits
to those countries. How can it bring investment into parts of England today? If
this was built in the 80’s or even 90’s there is no question the benefits would
outweigh the costs, but today?
Will people
travel to/from London to Leeds or Manchester? Think about it. Twitter,
Facebook, Skype, email, Dropbox, Instagram, Google+, YouTube, LinkedIn,
Interactive channels and more and more. All these fabulous communication links.
And the key? Working from home and hours that suit your clients is the way to
work today.
We, at Find The Engineer all work from home, and communicate with
all the means above. We no longer travel into offices, or commute to work. Just
a quick cuppa and into the study to start work at 6am for me! We have video
conferences via Skype, use LinkedIn to publish papers. Blogs, emails and our
websites to broadcast news and views. We use Twitter and Facebook for latest
vacancy updates to the minute. Everything is very fast, and all from our
recruiter’s home computer, tablet or phone.
So recently, us two directors’ had to attend a meeting in Mayfair, central London.
Do we get
the train, the tube? Or do we drive to the outskirts and commute in.
Well, we
drove right into Mayfair (paid congestion charge), parked outside the office,
had our meeting. Walked across to a restaurant. Had lunch. Got in the car and
drove back to Bristol.
All for £90!! That’s £45 each. Compare that to the other
two choices. Train £153 return. Each! Tube ticket £8.80 each. That’s over £160
each by public transport.
Not worth
it.
That’s why we work the way we do. It’s cheaper to work from home.
Keeps our
overheads low, which means customers get a better price. And let’s be honest if
we do travel it's cheaper by car!
So why bother with HS2? It’s 30 years too
late!
Call us on 0824 021 2-4-6-8
www.findtheengineer.com
