Swindon & Wiltshire News
Bristol Temple Meads to become a testbed for passenger tech
A multi-million pound programme will turn Bristol Temple Meads into the UK’s first ‘Station Innovation Zone’, trialling new technologies designed to upgrade passengers’ experience.
Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for cities, transport, and place leadership, and Network Rail, have announced that Bristol’s iconic train station is to host trials of innovative passenger technologies.
The programme is selecting start-ups aiming to test new ways to improve various aspects of the passenger experience: from making journeys smoother with smarter ticketing, to making stations more accessible with wayfinding apps; from using AI to improve people flow, to designing better facilities using human-centred design principles.
The Catapult is directing millions of pounds of Innovate UK funding into the programme, which sees Bristol Temple Meads named as the UK’s first Station Innovation Zone. The five-year programme will pioneer the approach and plans are in place to roll out the model to other stations as it succeeds.
Applications have opened for start-ups with ideas that could be trialled in the Station Innovation Zone. Passengers are likely to see the first trials beginning early next year.
This announcement of the Station Innovation Zone follows the Government’s levelling-up announcement of £95m for the Bristol Temple Quarter regeneration programme and the Catapult funding will complement the ongoing revitalisation of the station. Around £60m of the funding from Government will enable improvements in and around Bristol Temple Meads Station, including three new entrances to the station, as well as infrastructure works and new public spaces nearby.
The University of Bristol is developing its presence in Temple Quarter near the station, recently opening the Temple Quarter Research Hub, housing the Bristol Digital Futures Institute with a large scale data-centre and a sector-agnostic digital twin.
Nicola Yates OBE, CEO of Connected Places Catapult, said: “Innovation is tough in any industry and rail is especially hard because of the number of assessments and permissions required.
“The net effect is that it takes too much time and costs too much for most small businesses to engage. Partnering with Network Rail to create a multi-year Station Innovation Zone in Bristol’s vibrant Temple Quarter will enable us to support numerous small companies in navigating these challenges and benefit passengers’ experience of the station.”
Francis McGarry, Network Rail Wales & Western region’s investment director, said: “We are committed to developing Bristol Temple Meads into a world-class transport hub for the benefit of our passengers, the city of Bristol and wider West of England region, so it is fitting Bristol Temple Meads has been chosen as the UK’s first Station Innovation Zone.”
