Very recently while traveling in Japan, I overheard a conversation on-board a Shinkansen train, which very broadly could easily be summarised as “Everything for Europeans and Japanese is doable, and everything for Australians is too difficult.”

It is no secret that I am an avid train enthusiast, so, the combination of that with the conversation in the background and being on a Shinkansen, probably shifted my thoughts towards the High Speed Rail situation in Australia versus the rest of the world.

I couldn’t help but wonder why countries around the world keep investing in High Speed Rail but Australia is not.

Is it a lack of political will? Is there not enough public support or interest? Is it too expensive? Is it a matter of technology being mature enough and affordable?

I do strongly believe that the benefits of making High Speed Rail a reality in Australia outweigh any excuse given.

For example, from a practical point of view if Sydney were a 40-minute train commute away, I could work in Sydney and live in Canberra.

And just in case you’re wondering… No, it’s not an impossible dream. In ten years in Japan, people who live in Nagoya will be able to work in Tokyo and travel back, in around 40 mins by Superconducting Maglev trains.

But this is not only a matter of practicality and making life easier, there are recent studies that show High Speed Rail is feasible and will provide benefits from an economic point of view, not to mention of course the environmental benefits.

So how is it that something that is obviously beneficial for our Nation has not get enough traction?

I believe that if we are to shift people from advocating for road to rail, everyone needs to do more than what we’ve done in promoting this cause.

Effective communication is the key. We need to find ways to inform and persuade the public. We have to be more efficient, clear and concise in our approach.

Of course this not only applies to trains, the same applies to things we want to communicate with our clients and customers every day.

Sometimes, the closer we are to a cause, a topic, a product or a service, the more difficult it becomes to make our point.

We have so much knowledge, information, facts and figures, that creating a compelling message feels almost like an impossible task to do.

But the truth is that being able to communicate in an engaging, persuasive and meaningful way isn’t rocket science.

Dream big, go further!