Window Seater delivers immersive new in-train storytelling experience

Window Seater and Community Rail Network have partnered to provide geolocated, localised audio stories that connect rail travellers to the world outside their window. From Thursday 17 February these informative, lively and simple-to-use guides will be available for free on nine lines in the GWR region via the Apple and Google stores.

Getting people back on trains in an innovative, fun and engaging way
Post-Covid, getting leisure travellers back to rail is critical to the railway industry’s recovery, as is encouraging modal shift from car to train.

Window Seater offers an experience that is unique to rail, using proprietary technology and drawing on stories from communities along the railway line. Guides cover a wide variety of subjects from history and geography to art and culture - always focused on the local area.

Listeners will get to hear about subjects ranging from the Roman ruins at Silchester in Hampshire to the cultural scene and station pop art in Bristol - and much in between!

At first, guides will be offered on the following lines:

●        Bristol to Weymouth (Heart of Wessex line)

●        Bristol to Severn Beach

●        Bristol to Worcester

●        London to Oxford

●        Oxford to Hereford (Cotswold line)

●        Swindon to Cheltenham (Golden Valley line)

●        Reading to Gatwick (North Downs line)

●        Reading to Basingstoke

●        Westbury to Swindon (TransWilts line)

Marcus Allender, Business Development Director at Window Seater, said: “We are delighted to be working directly with the people who know the stories along the railway best – our new tech allows us to harness the passion and knowledge of these communities, increasing the quality and scalability of our guides.

“Improving customer experience, better drawing on community rail and getting people back on trains are all core goals of the government’s new Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, which this project dovetails with perfectly.”

Community Rail Network chief executive Jools Townsend said: “Many people don’t realise the scope for exploring Britain’s stunning landscapes, pretty villages and historic sites by rail – and making use of our wonderful, often little-known, community rail lines and stations is a great way to do this.

“We’re proud to have partnered with Window Seater and our community rail members across the South West on this innovative initiative. We hope it will inspire more people to take the train, uncover hidden gems and learn more about the communities and locations the railway takes you through, for wonderful, green, community-friendly days out and longer trips.”

Rail Minister, Wendy Morton said: “I am thrilled to have helped bring this innovative project to life through our First of a Kind competition.

“Window Seater is a fantastic app, enhancing customer experience through GPS linked stories which connect passengers to the world outside their window. “Supporting new ideas, innovation and design is at the core of our Plan for Rail, it’s vital that we support the inventors and enterprise of today to improve train journeys for the future.”

Funding from Innovate UK
This initiative was funded by the First of a Kind 2021 competition, aimed at projects that increase confidence and enhance the experience of rail travel, run by Innovate UK on behalf of the Department for Transport.