Why HS2 is a disaster

On The Abundance Agenda this week:

* Martin digs into the Stewart Review on why HS2 has been such a nightmare construction project. Spoiler: It ain’t pretty.

* James looks at progress towards having autonomous cars driving on London’s roads – and explores a new report on some of the second and third-order consequences of autonomous vehicles becoming a real thing in the world.

* Then we speak to technologist Tom Forth of The Data City, about his ideas for the National Data Library, and why he’s trolling the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology.

You can find the full Stewart Review here.

The Productivity Institute report, by Graham Winch, on HS2 is here.

The Paradigm Junction report on autonomous vehicles is here.

Tom Forth’s ‘National Data Library’ is here.

Martin’s Substack is here, where he has written more on HS2 failures.

James’s Substack post on why HS2 to Manchester still might happen (maybe) is here.

Here’s some background on OpenSafely, which is mentioned by Tom Forth.

The Abundance Agenda is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and hopefully wherever you get your podcasts!

You can find James on Bluesky here, and Martin here.

00:19 HS2: A Symbol of Britain's Inability to Build

01:35 The Stewarts Review: Governance and Mismanagement

04:01 The Strategic Case for HS2

06:33 Design Challenges and Gold Plating

20:39 Government Interference and Project Delays

28:36 Autonomous Cars: The Future of Transport

35:17 Impact of Autonomous Deliveries on Big Business

35:42 Cost Reduction in Goods Transportation

36:18 Skepticism and Challenges of Autonomous Lorries

37:39 Autonomous Public Transport: A Transformative Future

39:27 Private Autonomous Vehicles: Ownership and Personalization

44:34 National Data Library: Concept and Implementation

01:03:50 Conclusion and Housekeeping