Tuesday 3 Dec 2024
Network Rail celebrates International Day of Persons with Disabilities with success of station navigation app and autism-friendly stations by the end of 2025
- Region & Route:
- National
Network Rail is celebrating International Day of Persons with Disabilities today (Tuesday, 3 December) by unveiling passenger usage figures for its new in-station navigation app for blind and partially sighted passengers and its pledge to make all its managed stations autism-friendly by the end of 2025.
In April this year, Network Rail launched the GoodMaps Indoor Navigation GPS app at all its managed stations — the 20 busiest in Britain. The app provides step-by-step, turn-by-turn navigation, giving blind and partially sighted passengers the means to travel independently through stations. Since its launch, it has been used over 15,000 times, averaging 2,000 uses a month, with numbers set to increase in 2025.
Network Rail is also committed to making all of its managed stations autism-friendly by the end of 2025, following London Waterloo station's autism-friendly accreditation earlier this year. Awarded by the National Autistic Society, it represents a step towards creating more accessible spaces for neurodiverse passengers, such as quiet rooms and designated calm spaces, in an otherwise busy rail station environment.
Network Rail’s chief executive Andrew Haines said: "Making my way around a station, grabbing a coffee, or getting a bite to eat before catching a train is something I take for granted. For passengers with disabilities, including those who are blind, partially sighted and neurodiverse, it requires careful planning, which is why initiatives like the station navigation app and making our stations autism-friendly matter.
"We want to make rail travel accessible for everyone, empowering all passengers, including those with disabilities, to travel with greater autonomy. We're not complacent; we know there's much more to do, but we believe we are going in the right direction with the progress made so far."
Christine Flintoft-Smith, Head of Autism Accreditation and Projects at the National Autistic Society, said: “It’s encouraging to see that Network Rail has made a commitment to make all of its managed stations autism-friendly by the end of next year. Waterloo Station has already achieved our Autism Friendly Award, so we look forward to working with the company and its staff as they continue to support autistic people.”
As part of its commitment to making stations autism-friendly, Network Rail is introducing sensory bags to enhance the customer experience for autistic customers. These bags provide tools to help individuals self-regulate and feel more comfortable in a sometimes overwhelming station environment.
In addition, British Sign Language (BSL) screens are now operational at all 20 of Network Rail's stations, ensuring deaf and hard-of-hearing passengers can access essential travel information in real-time, as well as stoma-friendly toilets, offering safe and private spaces for those with medical needs to change their stoma bags.
To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, some Network Rail stations will be lit up in purple as a symbol of this day, celebrating the contribution of disabled people worldwide.
Notes to Editors
The Autism Friendly Award is a leading accreditation programme set up by the National Autistic Society to help businesses create more welcoming environments and make a difference in the lives of autistic people throughout the UK. Companies must meet standards and follow a framework to demonstrate to customers that their business offers an autism-friendly environment and service, and over 300 organisations are now accredited.
Autism-friendly accreditation, provided by the National Autistic Society, is a rigorous process that ensures that stations are welcoming and accommodating to the autistic community. It involves staff undergoing autism awareness training and implementing sensory-friendly elements, such as quiet rooms, calm spaces, designated quieter times, and tools like fidget spinners and noise-cancelling headphones to help ease sensory overload. This accreditation assures autistic passengers and their families that a station is committed to promoting comfort, familiarity, and support.
Sensory bags have been carefully designed to assist autistic customers who may feel overwhelmed by the busy and often unpredictable station environment. The bags include Stress balls, earbuds, an autism-friendly travel guide, Colouring pencils, and a Network Rail colouring book.
Passenger Assistance Lounges are quiet and relaxing areas where customers can wait for assistance or their train in a less stressful setting. Stations like Manchester Piccadilly provide additional facilities, such as sensory nooks, equipped with soothing lights and sounds.
Goodmaps GPS guides is a sat nav smartphone app that will provide passengers with a list of places within the station, retail units, platforms, ticket offices, and toilets. This will then enable the user to tell their phone where they want to go and the app will map out the journey within the station, offering turn-by-turn navigation. It will also allow passengers to select their navigation preferences, such as step-free access for wheelchair users or avoiding escalators for guide dog users.
British Sign Language (BSL) screens display signed travel information, offering the latest advice for passengers who are deaf or hard of hearing. The screens started as a trial at Euston station in 2021.
Stoma-friendly toilets allow people to change their stoma bags in a safe and clean environment. They will also have signage on the door to remind people that not all disabilities are visible.
Contact information
Passengers / community members
Network Rail national helpline
03457 11 41 41
Latest travel advice
Please visit National Rail Enquiries
Journalists
Tracey O'Brien
Media relations manager
Network Rail
Tracey.O'brien@networkrail.co.uk
About Network Rail
We own, operate and develop Britain's railway infrastructure; that's 20,000 miles of track, 30,000 bridges, tunnels and viaducts and the thousands of signals, level crossings and stations. We run 20 of the UK's largest stations while all the others, over 2,500, are run by the country's train operating companies.
Usually, there are almost five million journeys made in the UK and over 600 freight trains run on the network. People depend on Britain's railway for their daily commute, to visit friends and loved ones and to get them home safe every day. Our role is to deliver a safe and reliable railway, so we carefully manage and deliver thousands of projects every year that form part of the multi-billion pound Railway Upgrade Plan, to grow and expand the nation's railway network to respond to the tremendous growth and demand the railway has experienced - a doubling of passenger journeys over the past 20 years.
Follow us on Twitter: @networkrail
Visit our online newsroom: www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk