A: Operators who run public transport see this
whole thing coming back as life gets normal. It’s
a problem currently but that will fade away. Any
large city without public transport, it will not
function. We discussed whether we would put
money into the next generation of high-speed
trains. We have prototypes running. This may be
one of the finest trains Siemens has ever built. It
runs about 300 kilometers (186 mph) an hour. It
has the highest efficiency. It has an aerodynamic
profile. It works with different propulsion systems,
is lightweight. Eventually you will see less and less
national cities connected by flights. Wherever you
have a good one-to-one connection with a high
speed train, you can eliminate flights totally. We
have a good business, globally. I do believe that
has a good future.
Q: You’ve said you can use medical imaging to
cut stroke treatment costs in half. How would
you do that?
A: There are some cities where if you have a
stroke, you’re better off. A person has a stroke, so
an ambulance comes, brings you to a hospital.
You get a scan. Then you need a specialist for
surgery. Very often the person doesn’t sit at the
hospital closest to where the person has a stroke.
So you either put the person in a helicopter or
you fly the surgeon to the hospital. This takes
another half an hour, hour. If every second counts,
that’s a problem. A startup we acquired is doing
high-precision surgery by joystick. One hundred
miles apart, you have the best surgeon working
with good equipment, which also ensures that
you have a very precision movement. That cuts
the time substantially. I think they are working on
getting an approval for some of the procedures. It
will take a couple of years.