Ideas to enhance safety and reduce anxiety sought for Bristol Temple Meads testbed

16.07.25, BRISTOL, Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for transport, the built environment, cities and local growth, announced today that applications are open to join the next cohort of innovators developing solutions as part of the Station Innovation Zone.

Now in its fourth year, the Station Innovation Zone is a partnership between Connected Places Catapult and Network Rail, funded by Innovate UK. It creates an environment for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to trial technologies with the potential to improve the passenger experience or enhance safety.

To date, the Station Innovation Zone has supported 25 innovative firms develop their ideas, with 8 undertaking live trials at Bristol Temple Meads.

This year’s challenges centre on two themes, which applicants are invited to respond to:

Station weather resilience: Predicting, preventing and responding to wet floors

Innovations to help combat surface condensation on station floors that can lead to slips and falls. As well as during rain, in certain conditions air condenses and reaches ‘dew point’, resulting in station floors getting damp; reducing slip resistance.

Solutions should reduce the need to place matting on the ground, and reduce the frequency of public safety announcements.

Solutions should consider the heritage status of the station building, and the accessibility needs of all passengers. Multiple solutions may be required to address the issue in full, so applicants are encouraged to show willing to collaborate with other innovators.

Improving the interchange experience: Addressing passenger rushing, and reducing anxiety

Solutions that enable passengers to feel relaxed, prepared and in control if there is a change to their service, a delay or cancellation when interchanging between trains or moving to another mode of transport.

Systems should ensure that conflicts between the needs of those stationary versus those moving both fast and slow can be reduced, when a designated platform changes shortly before a train arrives.

Solutions aimed at changing passenger behaviour to help reduce anxiety could include physical innovations at stations – such as the use of light, sound or other visual stimuli – or digital approaches, including augmented reality.

Up to eight companies will be selected to take part, with each receiving an initial £4,000 to develop a trial plan. Of those, up to three will be chosen to move forward to live trials over a six-month period at Bristol Temple Meads, with each receiving up to £45,000 to support deployment at the station. All successful applicants will receive business development and investment readiness support, as well as the opportunity to showcase their technology at relevant industry events.

Applicants have until Wednesday 24 September 2025 to apply via the Connected Places Catapult website.

“Large railway stations such as Bristol Temple Meads are critical interchanges for passengers, but can be a challenging environment for some people if they have to change platform at short notice. Station floors that become slippery in inclement weather represent another problematic issue to address, especially inside older buildings.

“We are keen to work closely with innovators who can present new ideas to reduce anxiety for passengers and improve conditions for people passing through the station and making onward connections. Our aim is that innovations chosen to be taken forward to trials can be developed into commercially successful propositions that benefit passengers in the UK and beyond.”

Alan Peters, Rail Director at Connected Places Catapult

“We’re very excited to launch another year of challenges as we continue to build on the success of the Station Innovation Zone.

“Working in collaboration with the wider industry, this year’s challenges provide SMEs with a platform to demonstrate their innovations and respond to issues that will provide real benefits to rail. Whether helping us find new ways to further reduce slipping hazards, or expand upon the latest passenger insights research to make rail travel more accessible, I’m confident that this year will offer more fresh perspectives on the art of the possible, and allow our teams at Temple Meads the opportunity to trial something truly novel.”

Brian Wortman, Senior Programme Manager at Network Rail

Speaking of their experience on year two of the programme, Haydon Bartlett-Tasker, Managing Director of CrossTech said: "Being part of the Station Innovation Zone was a fantastic experience. It gave us the opportunity to evolve our Escalate system in a complex, real-world station – complete with a passenger subway. Thanks to the programme, Escalate is now ready to support a wider network of stations, and we’re excited to scale up to more key locations in the coming months."

Another company to trial on year two of the programme was Co-You. Its founder Christian Kerrigan said the trial at Bristol Temple Meads was an “amazing experience” in terms of its ability to take a product – in their case a technology that captures carbon – from a laboratory to a real-world environment, and offering access to Network Rail stakeholders.

The trial also opened up opportunities to discuss trials with new partners on other projects, he added. “We wouldn’t have been able to access the rail market without the trial. It was a very supportive and engaged process.”