Hyperloop: Why I wish we were more Victorian

There is much to admire about the Victorian era. Stern but well dressed gentlemen, women fainting at every opportunity, 12 year old's down mines and working in munitions factories and of course rampant racism and of course, Empire! Remember the sun never set on the British Empire...well, until it did.

Seriously though I could get on board with the fashion and the abundance of unhealthy, greasy food without anyone mentioning the words 'fat', 'calories', 'cholesterol'. Those, and the massive structural engineering projects. The Victorian's realised they could connect the cities of Britain by canal or by railway and they did it. Damn the cost. Damn the villages and communities which had to be destroyed in the name of progress and damn the health risks (some people thought travelling by train would cause brain damage) and damn the niggling little structural engineering problems.

Railways were built while giants like Isambard Kingdom Brunell (another thing I can get on board with is the names...do you know how many children were named 'Khaleesi' last year despite that not even being the characters name but title? Like calling your child 'duke' or 'railway maintenance engineer' or 'traffic warden') figured out the minor technical problems like how to get across that river or under that mountain. I mean it wasn't until years after the railways were built that people thought to invent platforms for crying out loud.

What I am saying is we have lost the spirit of engineering, of adventure and any sense of inspiration. The government is ploughing ahead with High Speed 2 railways lines despite only shaving a marginal amount of time off the journey time whereas the Hyperloop could do Scotland to London in less than half an hour. 30 minutes to traverse the entire length of the country! Most Londoners I know have a commute of circa 2 hours to work and back. This would open up the entire nation to being a suburb of London and let us all enjoy in the wealth and the opportunities afforded to those who live in the City without the cramped horrible confines of tiny damp ridden apartments that cost the equivalent to your own private island in the South Pacific just because its 'close to the Northern Line'.

Are there technical problems to be resolved with Hyperloop? Of course there are. No one is saying it is good to go but the amount of scepticism has made me very sad, and nostalgic for a time when cholera rampaged through the streets of our fair capital. Problems can be resolved. After all we (not we, but you know as a species) put a man on the moon! I am sure we can sort out the minor niggles in what could be the best thing since sliced bread and help us regain the edge in transportation when most of the world has left us behind. We invented the railways and yet our antiquated rolling stock and Victorian infrastructure is a laughing stock.

The expense? Spend it. The government has a great excuse here to walk away from its failing austerity plan and behind spending massively on science and infrastructure and construction and get some money pumping through the real economy while bringing an actual economic benefit to the regions of the north and Wales which otherwise languish unloved and uninterested by a London-led coalition only concerned with the problems in the city.

I can see no down sides. None. None at all. So, what are we waiting for? Let's be the first to build the Hyperloop system and show the world what is what once more. But we won't will we? While others are pessimistic about the technology I am pessimistic about our great nation and its spirit of endeavour, and improvement. We would rather sit back and scoff and say 'It will never work' or 'it is too expensive' (how expensive is more motorways+more cars=global warming?) and just wallow. I bet you the Chinese do it first.