DIGITAL RAILWAY

If you’ve passed through a train station this summer, you will no doubt have seen that the crowds have returned, that shops and platforms are full again and that travellers have come back after the pandemic. While numbers are still slightly below pre-pandemic levels, people are regularly using the railways again – both for domestic and international travel – following a two-year hiatus.

Stations are getting back to their vibrant best, and while that is wonderful news for passengers, retailers and the industry, it does bring with it its own challenges.

Busier stations can lead to queues and make it harder to navigate transport hubs. I noticed this issue a few years ago at St Pancras International, our flagship international station on the HS1 railway, the Green Gateway to Europe. It made me realise this issue needed to be addressed if we were going to do what we always strive to do here at HS1 Ltd; continually improve passenger experience.

The challenge, therefore, was to find a 21st Century solution that helped us accommodate all passengers in a safe and easily accessible way, even in peak hours. That meant we needed an innovative solution, and ideally one that harnessed digital capabilities so we could truly have a holistic view of how we improved this essential element of passenger experience.

And I’m pleased to say we found that innovative solution. Working with OpenSpace Group Ltd, a digital innovation company with deep expertise in the science of people movement, we looked at how we could use digital technologies to monitor crowds in our stations, and help our staff help them even more quickly and efficiently.

That led, earlier this year, to us signing a contract to deploy ‘OpenSpace’ technology at St Pancras International and the other stations on our line. It’s never been more important to ensure that people can move freely and quickly – and this groundbreaking technology will allow our staff to see, in real-time, a visual representation of where all people in HS1 stations are, at any given time.

This capability will deliver huge benefits. By having sight of where people are, staff are now better equipped to deal with any bottlenecks that develop, or potential safety issues caused by overcrowding. The technology will also offer greater accessibility, helping staff to move customers requiring assistance through the station more easily by noting which routes will be simplest and safest to get them from A to B.

And thanks to the digital capabilities within the technology, we’re now able to analyse particularly busy periods or times of disruption within our stations – both through simulating scenarios and revisiting actual station flow – to improve future station management responses.

The ability to simulate ‘what-if’ scenarios will enable us to plan and prepare for significant events that may affect passenger movements including maintenance, or busy events – such as the summer holiday getaway or upcoming August bank holiday weekend.

And the best part of this technology? It allows us to help passengers move around stations freely without compromising privacy. The technology ensures that people recorded by the system are represented by a simple generic figure, as opposed to capturing images of people’s faces. This is a feature we at HS1 Ltd place particular value on – it puts to rest any reservations about the application of this technology.

Ultimately, the technology represents a key moment in developing greater digital solutions to improve customer experience in train stations, aligning with Great British Railways’ ‘customer-first’ vision for the future of the railways. It’s putting the passenger at the heart of future innovation in the sector and making sure that changes we’re delivering fit into two primary objectives: to make the system as safe as possible for people, and to make it as simple and easy to use.

At HS1 Ltd, we are always striving to deliver the best station experience for our passengers and, as part of this, we provide our operational team with the data they need to achieve this. Our work with OpenSpace is just another example of how we innovate to improve the passenger experience and strive to make the HS1 system the best railway in the country.

Through this initiative, we’re delivering on that objective, and showcasing how greater innovation within the rail sector can truly overhaul the passenger experience at all points of their journey, not only while on the train.

is CEO of HS1 Ltd. She is currently NED for East West Railway, on the Board of GBR and Chair of NSAR.