Passenger Experience & Innovation Infrastructure to make the UK rail the best in the world

The rail industry is growing fast but passenger experience within stations is often poor, particularly for the disadvantaged. But, without engaging passengers to innovate and develop solutions, the track record of success are low. The project, led by Milne Research with Costain, IBM and Institute for Manufacturing, aims to solve this problem by developing a digital & physical industry-wide innovation infrastructure for passenger engagement and innovation – Passenger Engagement and Innovation Infrastructure (PEII). Firstly, passengers need a physical interface so we will build Innovation Hubs at London Bridge and Euston stations enabling passengers to input their ideas and problems or trial and test real innovations in-the-making such as signage systems or seat designs. Often more imporant is process innovation such as making it better and easier to find your train, book or change a ticket - even letting someone know the toilets are not working! Secondly, for industry to be able to engage with passengers at the scale necessary, unlocking the power of IT is essential. Therefore, the innovation hubs will be kitted out with interactive touchscreens, VR booths and headsets etc. The entire digital innovation infrastructure will be accessible through the web, social media and integrated into a range of travel apps. In this digital world, passengers can continue to be engaged – also rewarded and recognised for their contributions. This is an industry first and we look forward to working with all passengers to help make UK rail the best in the world.