HS2 Ltd’s commitment to innovation could make waves beyond the railway itself. Capacity, connectivity and carbon reduction are three of High Speed 2’s (HS2’s) well publicised benefits. According to HS2 Ltd, the rail project will improve capacity, feed into the government’s levelling up agenda and become the low carbon option for long distance travel. But could the ripple effects of the scheme go significantly further?
HS2 Ltd has developed an innovation accelerator programme to give technology-focused small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) a better chance of working on the railway project. These firms are developing innovative technologies that could drive project efficiencies and create wider long term economic benefits – but it would be easy for these SMEs to be overshadowed during the traditional procurement process for billion pound contracts.
Firms which successfully apply to the programme will receive commercial and technical support and rent-free working space as they develop their technology, which can then be pitched to industry investors and HS2’s supply chain. The significance of the programme is not lost on Sensat chief executive James Dean, whose tech start-up became one of the first five firms to join the innovation accelerator in September last year. Sensat had already been working on two HS2 contracts but attempts to extend this involvement across the project were “frustrating”, according to Dean.