All change at bristol for the future
_Railway stations are being reimagined as hubs for all sorts of activities and connections. Mike Walter asks if new thinking in one of England’s most iconic stations could be the future.
This article featured in the print version of the
Connected Places Magazine
Railway stations are places that many passengers rush through – ticket in one hand, coffee in the other – paying little attention to their surroundings as they hurry to catch their train.
But just imagine if the building – and the local area outside – were places in which you might want to pause and spend more time; catching up on work, or meeting friends. Could railway stations serve more of a purpose than helping people leave their town or city as fast as possible?
This is exactly what is being experimented at Bristol Temple Meads, which is quickly becoming established as a testbed for new thinking and technology.
Here the station is testing new ideas to make spaces safer to use, easier to navigate and more social, as well as providing a catalyst for opportunities to create a greater sense of ‘place’.
But it is not easy: Bristol Temple Meads is a challenging environment in which to introduce change, as it was built nearly 200 years ago in a time when it operated differently from today, with far more trains, different types of trains and far more passengers too.
“Railway stations can be much more than somewhere you get on and off a train, but places that can facilitate the way people work and live,” explains consultant Arup’s Transport Lead, Andrew Jenkins.
“Stations are interfaces for people arriving by several modes of transport and need to provide easy passage for a wide variety of users. But they are often crammed into old, crowded buildings that are right on the limits of their operational capacity.”
He adds that stations may one day be redefined as ‘mobility hubs’ – serving multiple forms of travel but with other facilities such as work and community spaces – giving people more reason to travel by train and a feeling they can stay in a station for longer.
Encouraging people to gather in stations could also help to reduce any feelings that railway lines divide local communities. Good quality mobility hubs, on the other hand, may provide a means of joining two sides of the tracks together, plus help to boost residential and commercial activity.
“The sheer level of access we have had to staff – to really understand the problems they are facing – is the biggest thing we have had from the entire programme.”
Rosie Richardson, Createc
The UK’s first Station Innovation Zone
New thinking at Bristol Temple Meads is being demonstrated through the ‘Station Innovation Zone’, hosted by Connected Places Catapult on behalf of Network Rail. Three innovative companies have been trialling new solutions to make stations safer, and more seamless to use and social.
Createc tested a crowd monitoring system to warn of concerning activity at stations, Jnction showcased a passenger assistance app to help neurodiverse individuals find their way around, and WorkfromHub demonstrated a remote workspace pod that can be booked via a dedicated app.
A second cohort of entrepreneurs for the Station Innovation Zone will soon be selected to trial their technologies, and a ‘playbook’ has been created to show other cities or countries how to create such a Station Innovation Zone from scratch.
One major ambition at Bristol is finding ways to more closely align Temple Meads station with the city, whose centre is over a mile away. Redevelopment is planned around the rail site at ‘Temple Quarter’ over the coming decade, and Connected Places Catapult is working on a design competition with three local colleges and two universities to help reimagine the station space and provide ideas for improving onward travel.
The Catapult’s Ecosystem Director for Rail and Stations, Dr Alan Peters, said: “We are not just trying to support innovation to make the station experience as good as it can be; from the perspective of a station as a key entrance to the city, there are wider benefits to be had in terms of jobs and growth for the area too.”
“We’ve enjoyed working alongside other SMEs and having support from Connected Places Catapult. Being part of the Station Innovation Zone has been critical for our company’s growth.”
Rob Franklin, Jnction
Giving stations greater purpose
Network Rail Project Sponsor, Brian Wortman, says the technology trials at Bristol Temple Meads have thrown a spotlight on what people want from their stations. “Are stations simply a means of accessing the rail system through ticket barriers, or can they be something more and provide economic and social value? We see our stations as being very much the latter as well. We have the opportunity here to showcase something drastically different.”
“For me, the big thing about the Station Innovation Zone is the change in mindset to do things differently,” Brian explains.
“There are not many more complex station environments than Temple Meads in which to try out innovation. If it works here, it can work in any of our managed stations.”
Further Reading
To hear more from Rob and Rose, listen to the podcast episode: “Bristol’s Station Innovation Zone – Meet the companies”
