re Government data sharing.... In the last few years there's been work to enable data sharing across departments. The Cabinet Office only set up a team for it in (iirc) 2021. Post-Brexit border arrangements highlight the benefits - imagine trying to move food from here to there - you're likely involving DEFRA, HMRC, DFT, DBT, Home Office. And the recent introduction of a working identity tool will doubtless in time enable that single verified identity to percolate across departments.
& that there railway?
We should have started with HS3 - the T across the North. The time savings on HS2 are marginal, and making 'time' the rationale is an engineer's fallacy. It's not the only way people measure the value of train travel. They'll factor in everything from comfort, time to do something, carbon footprint, etc.
Yes, north/south rail capacity is an issue, but nothing like the challenge East/West.
Will
