The cost of HS2 just ballooned, thanks to the bungling Transport Department Modern technology is developing at a faster rate than ever. It has had a huge impact on all our lives in fundamental ways, both socially and at work. When I was first elected to Parliament, more than 20 years ago, my secretary worked on a golf-ball typewriter. This cumbersome machine, the standard at the time, looks distinctly prehistoric next to today's technological wonders. Nowadays I can access my emails, diary, and the news wherever I want on a device that weighs less than a book and fits comfortably in my handbag. I can work wirelessly in every room of my house and even watch TV on the move in a bus, car, train or even a plane. The last 10 years alone have seen huge technological developments, with the advent of smartphones, tablet computers, video conferencing, Skype and easily accessible Wifi and cloud services making communication and the transferring of information easier than ever. It has completely transformed the way I, and many others, do our jobs. And one byproduct is it reduces the need for travel. However, despite all these developments the Department for Transport has clung stubbornly to a decade-old report that assumes all time spent commuting on trains is wasted. In fact, the assumption that business people do no productive work when travelling by train has been a key justification used by the promoters of HS2. Next time you are on the train look around you and see just how many people are working on their personal devices. I remember, when questioning the Transport Secretary about this claim, being told that it was not an unreasonable claim for the DfT to make. Yet the department acknowledged way back in 2009 that productivity on train journeys has increased due to the rise in laptop computers. But this fact was not used as an assumption in the calculations for HS2. With the recent news that the DfT is preparing to revise its calculations based on this point, it appears they have finally conceded that theirs is an unreasonable claim in today's increasingly interconnected world. This is yet another blow for the credibility of HS2, just days after it was announced that the cost would need to increase by nearly £10bn to an overall cost of £42.6bn. And let's face it, the bill for HS2 will not stop there. It will just keep rising. The New Economics Foundation recently published a report on how we could better spend the original £33bn earmarked for this railway. This includes upgrading existing rail infrastructure, investing in regional rail and rolling out high speed fibre optic broadband across the country. This would benefit many more people than a fixed point-to-point line. The Government has been keen to stress that we haven't built a railway line since the Victorian era and that the railways were fiercely opposed even in those days. However, we cannot seek Victorian solutions to modern-day problems. HS2 is already technologically out of date. By the time it is completed in 2033, it may be looking very akin to the ancient typewriter I used when I first entered Parliament. Cheryl Gillan is the Conservative MP for Chesham and Ame