Transport & Tech Policy
Transport helps people to live their lives, transport can mean a job interview, it can mean employment or it can mean a social life.
Connectivity is the key to Britain’s future, transport connects economic hub and allows tourists to enjoy our country.
Technology goes hand-in-hand with transport, it brings economic prosperity and innovations the export on a global market.
In this article, I mention two British initiatives that are at risk, Rolls Royce Nuclear Reactors and Reaction Engine's Skylon project.
We cannot allow British technology and businesses to collapse, the government needs to urgently needs to look towards the future and invest to save these British initiatives.
Scrap High Speed 2
High Speed 2 (HS2) is a proposed high speed rail line from London to Birmingham that will eventually go on to Manchester and Leeds also.
The project is set to cost £100bn and I would argue that it is not value for money considering how few stations the network will have.
There are many reasons against the project and you can read more here.
Re-examine Maglev
Maglev are trains that use magnetic levitation to glide above a track, thus removing friction, they can travel of speeds up to 300mph.
Maglev was looked at before the previous Labour government made the decision into HS2.
One advantage that Maglev has over conventional wheel-on-rail is that it can turn sharper curves without losing much speed, one of the problems with HS2 is that in order to achieve high speeds the route must be as straight as possible, resulting in the demolition of people’s homes and trees along the route.
There are two main Maglev versions, the Japanese and the German, the German version is currently used in Shanghai and this is the version I favour.
Prioritise East-West Rail Project
Due to a lack of foresight of the Beechen Cuts under consecutive Labour and Conservative governments in previous decades, we are now having to rebuild what was lost.
The East-West rail project between Oxford and Cambridge should be a high priority due to the importance of the technology industries in and around those cities.
Fully Support Modular Nuclear Reactors
Rolls-Royce have developed Small Nuclear Reactors (SMRs), a technology that will help Britain reach it’s climate targets and which can be exported all over the world, thus boosting the economy.
However the project is at risk and needs guarantees from government.
I believe that government should give Rolls-Royce guarantees and fully support them in this project.
Fully Fund Skylon Project
Skylon is a concept for a spacecraft using air-breathing rocket engines by Reaction Engines Ltd.
This technology will make the UK a world leader in the space industry and the government should fully fund the project with the ambition for a prototype in the near future.
This is another project that is at risk as it has been recently reported: Reaction Engines scrambles to avert collapse.
We cannot allow this to happen and the government must invest in British technology.
New International Airport
Heathrow is exceeding capacity, even with a third runway, the airport’s traffic is congested and it does not present an impressive welcome to the UK for any visitor.
The government should look again at building a new airport in Themes Estuary or another location.
