Case Study 1. The Prime Minister speaks

They were already running late to get to the shuttle. The Prime Minister was in the washroom behind the Cabinet Office when the Cabinet Secretary came into the meeting room. There is a crisis in Hungary he said to the special advisor

“There is always a crisis in Hungary” was the response from the adviser, whose profession it was to always have a ready and cynical answer.

“This time it involves us. A militant group has invaded the British Consulate. The staff are barricaded in the safe room. No one harmed yet thank god”

The Prime Minister came in walking swiftly and tying his tie at the same time a skill he was well practiced in. When told of the news he remarked sardonically that it was very inconvenient of them given that he was due to meet all the Mayors in the Country in Birmingham today.

He turned to his adviser “Do we need to cancel it and stay here? (meaning No.!0)”

“The Foreign Secretary has been informed and is creating a plan of action. Special Forces have been alerted. We can schedule a COBRA meeting this afternoon. We can still attend Birmingham and be back by 14 hundred hours. We will be taking the Super Slug”

The ‘Super Slug’ was the nickname for a modified SPRShuttle with conference facilities and room for security officials and Press in the rear. It was kept in a secure area at the rear of Euston station.

The Prime Minister stopped for a few seconds for time to make a decision. “OK lets go” he said and finished tying his tie as he stepped out of the room.

The shuttle had leather chairs at the front and a table that could have various configurations. Other seats were in front where required advisers sat. The midpoint of the shuttle had toilet and washroom facilities and a lockable door to rear housed the rest of the retinue. The Shuttle was equipped with a secure communications suite and as required for any official use, a Security officer had been dispatched to the Operations Centre to provide oversight of the journey. If a large party was required or in emergency situations, extra shuttles were hired to provide seats for additional personnel

The PM, his PPS and advisers and the Military Liaison officer sat around the table as they travelled north and made a plan of action. They spoke to the Foreign Secretary via secure video link. A press statement was approved. Then they focussed on the Mayors conference and fettled the speech. The shuttle reached Curzon Street in 48 minutes.

As they left the carriage to take the official car to Birmngham Town Hall, the PM quipped that the journey was far too quick as they had so much business to complete.

Case Study 2. The Lincoln Fields Lawyer

Deborah Jones KC had two court cases to attend in one day. The first was a scheduled appearance in the Family Court in Birmingham. The Second had been rescheduled at short notice back in London at 2pm. It was an almost impossible schedule to meet. However her Clerk had arranged for a Robocar8 to be booked, to take herself, the Clerk and her client.

They met at her Inns of Court in Lincoln Fields at 8am. The journey from her home in Greenwich had been interminable and had taken her nearly an hour to arrive. When she got there, the Clerk was waiting with the court documents ready and after a quick cup of coffee and a review of the schedule, they set off by taxi to Euston to catch the Robocar8.

The taxi took them to the drop off point in front of the main station concourse. As the Robocar ‘Taxi rank’ was at the higher level, they took the glass fronted lift up to the Robocar concourse. It was quieter than the shuttle area downstairs with a coffee shop and café/wine bar used for meeting fellow passengers and other amenities including toilets.

They were a party of three, and they had to wait a few minutes for an additional passenger, a witness, who would be providing important evidence to aid their client. He was late. After a few minutes he arrived, flustered with an unannounced companion .The clerk glanced at the time. They would need to present to the Birmingham Court in an hour and 5 minutes. The Court was 6 minutes from Curzon Street station.

This fourth person was a previously absent witness. This was unexpected. He said they had important information that they could verify under oath, but it has only become apparent that this was so late last night. If they could also attend, the position would be much stronger.

This was no problem. The RoboCar could seat 8. A simple adjustment on his phone by the clerk informed the service that an extra passenger was expected. As they had hailed a full car there was no extra charge.

The walked up to the Robocar. The clerk presented his App and the doors opened automatically. They got in to the forward compartment and sat facing each other, the Barrister and Clerk on one side and the witnesses facing them. The vehicle sensed that the passengers were boarded and automatically closed the doors and they set off. They felt the pull of the acceleration as the car accelerated constantly to 155mph. The vehicle was remarkable silent with its sound insulated system, cushioned air suspension and driving wheels with their tyre compound engineered for smooth running on the hard smooth concrete service. The only noise heard was the faint whirr of the stabilising wheels being retracted as they started off.

The Clerk could also adjust the lighting as required and the cabin temperature was set at 21 degrees.  Each door has a single large double glazed window with the outer pane tinted and flush mounted to the body. You could look out the window, but to be fair the view is largely of concrete walls. Since the canopy had been installed after the initial years of operation, daylight entry had also been reduced. However the use of sophisticated lighting systems mitigated against the feeling of claustrophobia. The cabin was more airy and less cramped than a typical car

They got to work and the clerk opened out the documentation and set up his tablet for display. Unlike the First Class Train compartment on the WCLM, they had complete privacy. Deborah spent most of the time asking questions of the new witness, ensuring that she was in full possession of the details of the case. During this conversation a very important fact was revealed, previously hidden that would have a major impact on her case. 

They arrived in Birmingham Curzon Street 48 minutes later, just as the questioning ended. An automated announcement was made to say that the vehicle was approaching its destination. They could feel the vehicle slowing down over the last kilometre, prompting the clerk to switch off his screen and pack the documentation away. The RoboCar pulled up to the arrivals stand, only 5 metres from the booked taxi area. They exited the cabin and crossed to the waiting taxi. The RoboCar pulled away. It had previously completed 4 journeys and now needed to replace its batteries.

 They were at Court in time and the case was settled quickly, thanks to the new information. Now Deborah and her Clerk needed to return to the second case in London at 2pm. They sat down for a few minutes in the RoboCar departure foyer at Curzon Street to have a coffee, a bite to eat and start to prepare for the next brief before taking a RoboCar back to London. The client and the witness returned too in the same car too, but this time in the second compartment separated by glass.

Case Study 3: The Tempest Trip

It was an annual trip traditionally undertaken by the lower 6th of a South London Sixth Form College to the Stratford Theatre for a workshop followed by attendance at a Matinee performance of a selected play, this year The Tempest.

Last year was however a disaster. The usual route they took in a coach winding around the South Circular to eventually join the M25 and the M40 started off badly despite an early start of 7.30am, with huge queues on the clockwise stretch near Heathrow and an accident on the M40. They eventually arrived in Stratford, bedraggled and hungry 5 minutes into the First Act of Richard III and were reluctantly let into the rear seats of the theatre before exiting at the end to get back to the coach with the irate driver with hardly time to go to the toilet. 

This year John Curtis, the Head of English determined to do something different. He noted the availability of the new SPRP Shuttle service. He thought about booking the 23 students onto the regular service but noted that for a small amount extra he could reserve a Shuttle32 for the trip. The total cost was comparable to the hire of a diesel coach. Their destination would be the Park and Ride at Stoneleigh near Leamington, where they would take the newly instituted electric metro shuttle running from Coventry to Stratford via Kenilworth Leamington and Warwick .

They would take the Northern Line to Euston where they would take the SPRS32 from the level 2 Concourse charter bay. The Northern Line was overcrowded at rush hour time, and two students missed their rendezvous. In previous years this would have meant they missed their trip, but this time, as the Shuttle was chartered, Mr Curtis and the rest of the group waited for them in the foyer until they arrived 20 minutes later. They then boarded the Shuttle. The shuttle departure was delayed for 30 seconds until a slot on the roadway was clear and they set off. Thirty Nine minutes later the shuttle took the newly constructed slip road to the Parkway station at Stoneleigh from where they were able to travel to Stratford Theatre by the metro shuttle. They arrived before 10am well in time to have a snack and get ready for the workshop starting at 10.30am.

As they returned later that evening John Curtis reflected on a fulfilling day that would not have been possible using the cancelled HS2 route either in terms of programming or in cost. Now all he had to do was get his charges safely home on the London Underground.

Case Study 4: Opportunity Knocks for the Country Cello Player

Natalie lived in small terraced house in the backstreets of Burton on Trent with her two young children. She was loving parent, and a lone mother after her feckless drug addict partner ran out on her. She felt life was passing by very quickly. But was still young and very frustrated. She had always loved Music, particularly Country and Western and she had a strong voice tinged with her distinctive flat East Staffordshire accent. In her teens she sang in a variety of bands, but an early pregnancy meant she had to give up on her dreams. She continued to sing of course, but she had no one to look after her children whilst she was singing in clubs and bars. So she sang in the shower and made a couple of TikTok videos that nobody but her friends heard. Most of them were either local girls or random people in China but one, Johnny the guitarist in her first band, lived in London and worked in a Coffee bar and was trying to break into “The Business” 

She also played the Cello. She had a battered budget Cello that was given to her by her School and never returned as the music department was closed. She continued to teach herself. There were few Country and Western singers in Burton, and fewer Cello players. And there was only one Country Cello player who did both. But once heard her sound was unique and moving. The songs she wrote were memorable with Bach infused progressions tinged to a voice plangent as Patsy Cline with the sonority of Adele and emotional punch of Aretha Franklin. She had a unique sound tied to a fabulous talent.

One afternoon she got a call from Johnny in London. He was organising a new talent night in a well known bar in Denmark Street.  Acts were by invitation only and competition for slots was fierce. A small appearance fee was provided for performers from the door and bar receipts. However one of the acts had dropped out at the last minute and there was a space available. He had always admired Natalie, so he gave her a call. Of course she couldn’t attend. She had no money and no one to babysit. However Johnny persisted.

“You could be there and back in an evening” he said “and I will ask my mum to babysit. My dad can take you to the station”. “What about my Cello?” she asked. “Don’t worry I will book an extra seat”. The total cost was £90 return for the full trip to get from Burton down the newly reinstated Trent Valley local route to Lichfield, now currently the terminus of the Silk Purse Road following the cancellation of the original HS2 route, and then directly to Euston.

So despite herself, she found herself on an SPRS32. Johnny had got his friend to meet her at the arrivals bay and they made their way to the bar in Denmark Street. She had to be persuaded to take a taxi rather then the bus. There was no time to sound check and she was the first new act on after the warm up. It was a small intimate venue and she was nervous. But still she put on an outstanding show. People were visibly amazed. Amongst the audience was a visiting Music Producer from Nashville who was on holiday but checked out the bar on a whim. He and his wife thought she was supremely talented and charismatic and beautiful. And they both knew star quality. He wanted to talk to Natalie afterwards but was only able to get her number quickly. “Ta Duck” she said in her East Staffordshire accent, confusing him as she stuffed his card in her cello case, before she dashed out in the night to catch the Bus, then the Shuttle back to Lichfield Trent Valley then finally back to Burton and her children. The Shuttle services ran for 24 hours, but the local train connect to Burton stopped at 11pm (it was an old fashioned style service) and she did not have enough money for a taxi back to Burton. She made it with 5 minutes to spare clunking her battered cello case along the platform.

Later, 12 hours later, the phone rang.

Case Study 5. Last Rites

He was already at the airport by the time the second call came. It was his stepmother, saying things had taken a turn for the worse and he needed to come home now. He immediately texted his brother who was taking the car ferry in Zeebrugge. They would both head straight to the hospital. No need to go to their family home now.

John was going to drive from Harwich to the Good Hope hospital in Sutton Coldfield. He was flying to Heathrow and then taking a Shuttle to Birmingham. Actually he would travel to Lichfield. After coming through passport control at Terminal 5, he made his way to the airport. The Shuttle roadway had only recently been extended to the airport, but proved a boon to travellers from other parts of the country who previously had to go into London to get to Heathrow.  There were restrictions in the roadway, it was single carriage only and restricted to a speed of 80mph until Old Oak Common where it sped up to the current maximum of 160mph. He thought about getting a robocar, but as he arrived a shuttle service was going directly to Lichfield Trent Valley where it terminated to allow Heathrow passengers to transfer to the WCML to the North West until the proposed extension to Manchester was built. He paid for a virtual ticket and walked to the departure lounge. There were 12 people ready to board. After 5 more came just after him, the shuttle was activated to depart and they took the lift down to the boarding platform and then they were away.

When he was on the service, he texted his brother, who was just about to leave Harwich in the car. He would be there in just over an hour, his brother reckoned two.  Whilst on the shuttle he ordered a taxi to take him from Trent Valley to Good Hope Hospital.

He went straight to the side room where Dad lay in the bed, his face ash grey and sunken.  Rita his wife was sitting in the corner, wiping her eyes continually with a handkerchief, hardly able to talk. Peter leant over and put his hand on her shoulder and kissed her on her forehead.

He turned to his father who was looking at him through watery grey eyes, that looked like they were drowning in the light and the old man gave out a smile that looked like he was lifting the heaviest of weights with his lips.

“Where’s John?” the old man said in an exhausted whisper.

“He will be here soon” said his son. “He is coming as quickly as he can”

“You are here” the father said. “always… been here”. The words fell out of the mouth of the dying man in small bits.

These were the last words he spoke.