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STATIONS OFTHE FUTURE
INTEGRATION IS KEY
‘A successful railway station will add to the passenger
experience as well as support the economic, social and
environmental bene� ts of rail. Integration with other modes and
the surrounding area can provide for an end-to-end journey
experience that makes sustainable transport an attractive
alternative to private vehicle usage.’ – Network Route Utilisation
Study – Stations, 2011
Dilemmas and opportunities for future stations was the � rst
subject to be tackled in the Railway Study Association’s new
Thought Workshops programme
What is your favourite station? Is it one of the modernised
railway cathedrals such as St Pancras, King’s Cross, Manchester
Victoria or Newcastle? A classic of its time such as Arnos Grove or
Wemyss Bay? Or an example of good new interchange with a touch of
style, such as Reading or the emerging London Bridge?
Clear information, easy ticketing and good access, capacity,
safety and security must be on most people’s list of station ‘must
haves’. But
beyond that, is it scale, style, homeliness, an award winning
station garden or a good co� ee shop that you value? The 21st
century focus on station retailing is sometimes lampooned, but we
all seem to be willing customers.
DILEMMAS AND OPPORTUNITIESAttempting to tackle these practical
and qualitative issues, plus many others, ‘Stations of the Future –
Dilemmas and Opportunities’ was
the � rst event in the Railway Study Association’s new Thought
Workshops programme.
The Thought Workshops programme sets out to bring together the
railway’s leaders, subject matter experts and bearers of fresh
ideas to explore and rethink from di� erent perspectives how the
railway’s service for the future is delivered.
Drawing on the wealth of insight in the RSA membership, the
multi-disciplinary events
are aimed at everyone who works in rail who has an appetite for
driving improvement – including commercial managers, property
managers, operations managers, lawyers, marketers, technologists
and engineers.
While the number of people joining the workshops has to be kept
manageable, there is a broad representation of job roles – with the
aim of providing focused debate and developing new insight.
Adam Stead, RSA leadership board member, introduced the � rst
workshop this summer, explaining that stations had been chosen as
the topic for the � rst event as they are the hub of the rail
journey, including the customer service and information elements
but also the built and moving environments – and so the topic is
relevant to a wide range of disciplines.
The workshop, hosted in London by law � rm Dentons, was opened
by industry leaders who shared their di� erent perspectives on
stations at their best – from operations to customer service and
redevelopment.
HS1 – SURPRISE AND DELIGHTWendy Spinks, Commercial Director,
High Speed 1, introduced some themes relevant to HS1’s St Pancras
International and other major stations.
St Pancras International has pushed at the boundaries of what
people think a station is like and it achieves good satisfaction
scores.
The station has to meet basic needs (such as ‘safe, secure and
clean’); then provide convenience and connectivity. Next in line,
its teams set out to o� er retail essentials (and wi-fi is now more
of a need than a ‘nice to have’); and � nally they work to surprise
and delight users, such as through events, music, art and special
retailing such as a champagne bar.
This approach can make stations much more than just the start or
end of a journey; they can become a destination in themselves. They
form part of the working life of users, where dwell time can be
used to connect via social media, meet and eat, or shop and treat.
One third of St Pancras station diners come there just to eat.
Major stations must respond to changing needs – many people are
carrying more baggage and the population is ageing, so more lifts
may be needed, for example.
And what will tomorrow’s customers expect? Connectivity, wi-fi,
charging and new methods of ticketing are likely to feature. Rising
to the challenge will need collaboration across the industry to
make it happen, suggested Wendy Spinks.
VTEC Tim Hedley-Jones, Major Projects Director, Virgin Trains
East Coast, suggested that the franchising model can have the e�
ect of � xing plans and investment for a franchise as it begins,
but customer expectations change and the railway needs to
respond.
Virgin has attempted to identify the factors most likely to in�
uence future needs and expectations, including the political,
economic, legal and environmental factors – and also to identify
emerging behaviours and attitudes and how these are going to a� ect
what people want from stations.
Stations should not just be a well-designed space but also take
into account what people are going to do. Recent new First Class
Lounge refurbishments on Virgin Trains East Coast stations try to
respond to the challenges, for example with innovative chair
designs as well as traditional ones; humorous messages; odd pieces
of furniture as talking points; and individual artwork responding
to the location’s unique environment.
Tim Hedley-Jones o� ered three principles for station plans,
embracing past, present and future themes. First is to work with
what you’ve got – taking advantage of heritage buildings rather
than seeing them as a problem: for example, the transformation of
Newcastle station’s portico into a customer space.
Second is to connect with the community you serve, mentally and
physically, including by blurring the boundary between stations and
the surrounding community, making journeys from home to train as
smooth as possible.
Third, don’t be afraid to embrace new technology – whatever’s
big now was once small, for example wi-fi was not so long ago a
‘nice to have’ but is now essential.
The formula seems to work, with VTEC’s station facility
satisfaction scores now the highest in most categories.
PASSENGER EXPERIENCEThe third speaker was Liam Henderson, Rail
Planner & Director of Transporting Cities, whose mission is to
review and promote world class passenger experience in transport.
It does this by undertaking system visits and reviews, and
contributing to the development of new initiatives to ensure that
the passenger is at the heart of transport decision-making.
He introduced some ideas on the things that most matter to
passengers – focusing on the basics, looking for an end-to-end
journey experience. It doesn’t matter who runs what, passengers are
concerned about the ease of buying tickets; communication; physical
access and on-board layout, power
Gateway to the city: artist’s impression of southern entrance to
future HS2 platforms at Euston. Courtesy HS2
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points, wi-fi and space to work; ease of interchanges, signage
and cycle space.
Priorities for service delivery include journey planning and
service information, sta� knowledge and attitude, responsiveness on
social media and e� ective disruption management.
SOARINGBuilding upon the insights of the three speakers, the
participants then worked as groups to create some new ideas about
what stations of the future could be and outline thoughts about how
change could start.
Gill How, RSA Leadership Board member, introduced the group
sessions, with the � rst asking participants to re� ect on today’s
stations, and consider di� erent types of station and their
Strengths, Opportunities, Aspirations and Results (SOAR):■
Strengths – What are the greatest features
of this type of station – the things that are done well and
people rely on?
■ Opportunities – What does the future hold and what
opportunities exist in future for these stations?
■ Aspirations – What does the ideal station of the future
achieve for its customers and stakeholders?
■ Results – What are the measurable results that will
demonstrate these stations are a success?
REALISING THE OPPORTUNITY‘Realising the opportunity’ was the
theme of the second session, and in this the groups considered � ve
di� erent types of stations: city, parkway, town, rural and
commuter (two of which are considered in more depth below).
There are often common strengths of heritage, space and
location, while a key opportunity is to join up di� erent transport
modes such as bikes and buses with these interchanges, o� ering
potential to apply good design standards and provide retail
outlets, and also o� er innovations such as pop-up shops.
The results should be seen in terms of corporate social
responsibility as well as in � nancial terms through ticket and
retail revenue.
Stations of the future could be a bigger part of the community
and become ‘owned’ by the community – a symbol of their area, an
obvious focus for third party engagement – feeling safer, with a
buzz created by the feeling that something is happening every
day.
PARKWAYParkway stations may not quite o� er a blank sheet of
paper for ideas, but the context for development on a green� eld or
brown� eld site can be very di� erent from an established urban
station.
Among the � ndings of the Thought Workshop’s ‘SOARing’ groups,
the team re� ecting on Parkway stations suggested that these
stations’ strengths included the bene� ts of park & ride,
keeping tra� c out of town centres and reducing congestion, and
potentially reducing car reliance for long journeys, giving
environmental bene� ts. Access to out-of-town facilities such as
stadiums and retail parks could also be linked strengths.
Opportunities considered were stimulating development in an
area, the ability to do shopping or ‘click and collect’ facilities
for retail and supermarket shopping on the way home, better
connections to other modes, better access for people of all needs,
� exible parking, bike hubs and hubs for shared vehicles.
Innovations could include drop-o� by personal autonomous
vehicles that park off-site, or by community autonomous vehicles
that go on to make further pick-ups.
Aspirations discussed included for stations to become a
destination and a gateway to the city, not just a starting point
for a journey; and weekend usage, perhaps linked to events
programmes, which could help create a sense of ownership for a
station.
Better security for cars/bikes and safer access – perhaps by
dedicated cycle highways – were other aspirations.
The end results? These could include growth in the number of
onward journeys, growth from using the parkway as destination and
growth in the proportion of people not using a car.
Revenue could therefore be boosted through growth in passengers
from existing users and new users, and more cars accommodated per
square metre.
The group’s ideas for a ‘future perfect’ parkway station
included a focus on pedestrians, an e� cient total journey (for
example, choice of mode to get there, seat-to-seat and direct
access to the car park, free-flowing through the station with no
gateline and payment validation on car park entry). Adaptable
construction to allow the station to � ex and grow in response to
demand was also envisaged, with a clean and uncomplicated station
design.
Signs of progress would be realising an integrated/multi-modal
design brief, achieving multi-headed sponsorship with joint
incentives / partnerships – relaxing vested interests to achieve
more together. Parties involved would include local government,
national government, community and developer. Measuring the value
of stations in broader terms and private interest in rail
investment would also be signs of progress.
The next steps towards the vision could include ‘bounce back’ of
speci� cations to encourage broader, more commercial development,
packaging adjacent land into development opportunities for
stations, engaging stakeholders and customers to understand their
needs and encouraging clients to look longer term and wider for
‘win-win’ development opportunities.
COMMUTERCommuters hate their station, don’t they? Or at best
barely notice it? One of the RSA groups had the chance to undermine
such negativity.
The group re� ecting on today’s commuter stations believed that
the strengths of a good
PARTICIPANTS’ FAVOURITE IDEAS
■ Integrate trains with buses and other modes / Personal Rapid
Transit links with parkway station hinterland.
■ Third party investment / involving developers earlier.
■ Specifying adaptable buildings that can � ex or be easily
modi� ed as needs change.
■ Improve passenger � ow and pe rmeability / station � ow lanes
/ commuter fast lanes / consistent way� nding.
■ Humanise – sta� should be friendly / approachable.
■ Community ownership / involvement: integration of stations
into the wider community, with artwork, activity fairs etc.
■ Integrate crèche services into commuter stations.■ Consider
strategy for improving stations: study trip to another country
to learn best practice and publish that in guidance.■ Dynamic
real-time system for understanding customer needs
and predicting them, rather than being reactive.
Have your say: Adam Stead, RSA leadership board member, collates
views from one of the workshop sessions. Ken Cordner
one include the quality of car parking and signage, with
convenient and e� cient ticket sales and helpful sta� , and the
whole package perhaps topped o� by a warm identity for the station
and a positive sense of place.
Opportunities for innovation could be pop-up shops, market
stalls and community use, with other commercial and lifestyle
opportunities to give the station multiple uses – such as food
retailing, click & collect for internet shopping, dry cleaning
and even children’s day nurseries.
Making the station a focus for intermodal transport
(train/bus/cycles) was another area of aspiration – along with
new-generation, quicker ticket gates and systems.
The results could be a happier commute, more pro� t for train
operating companies and other commercial interests, and more
sustainable travel and lifestyles.
In essence, the group believed that the commuter stations of the
future would be multi-use with a stronger link with the community;
friendlier and cleaner; would o� er a positive, energetic,
welcoming environment; would be more permeable and spacious (as
opposed to closed o� and cramped?). To give a station a sense of
identity, the target should be to humanise it, exploiting local
history as well as o� ering a positive modern image. A strategy for
improving stations
should be developed – and should not forget the small but
human-scale things, like � ower displays!
CREATIVE IDEASThe RSA’s new workshops got o� to a highly
promising start, with a conference room buzzing with ideas –
resulting in a high rate of creative idea generation per minute.
The RSA’s concept for its new workshops – of working with people
from a wide range of backgrounds to broaden understanding of the
subject – seems set to provide a steady supply of bright ideas for
a better railway, harnessing the best of railway and non-railway
thinking and approaching issues from all perspectives.
As you can see from the collection of participants’ favourite
ideas from this Thought Workshop, the brightest ideas cross the
boundaries of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ concepts, old and new railway – and
not railway at all. a Ken Cordner
Details of Association Membershipcan be found on page 14. Hear
thespeakers, ask the questions and thenread all about it in Modern
Railways
The train as backdrop: the champagne bar at St Pancras
International. Paul Bigland Integrating with the community:
Newcastle Central station illuminated for the city’s Pride event.
Courtesy VTEC
Meeting future needs: artist’s impression of through platforms
at Manchester Piccadilly
after quadrupling as part of the Northern Hub project. Courtesy
Network Rail