Jonny Holmes

Said the following about AtkinsRéalis Station Accessibility Audit Team:

“I am nominating the AtkinsRéalis Station Accessibility Audit Team for the fantastic and ground-breaking work they have delivered for the rail industry, achieved through deploying digital solutions to address an industry-old problem.

National transport policy aims to improve accessibility for all 2.5k stations on the GB rail network. However due to mixed operational and maintenance responsibility for stations, there is no current standardised approach to the recording and management of data relating to station accessibility. This impedes the ability for rail decision makers to make optimised and impactful investment decisions that help the biggest numbers of station users with accessibility requirements.

The AtkinsRéalis Station Accessibility Audit Team delivered an end-to-end solution that consisted of the first hand collection and validation of comprehensive network-wide audit data, which was collected and stored within a Cloud based solution, and presented within an integrated data visualisation dashboard. The Cloud based solution consisted of a data collection function built with a mobile survey application Workforce Manager (WFM), a data storage element built with an Ellipse Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) System, and a visualisation layer developed using PowerBI. All data captured was benchmarked against the DfT Design Code for Accessibility and the ORR’s Accessible Travel Policy.

Station user accessibility needs were compiled first hand via workshops consisting of people with lived experience of disabilities. This enabled the team to define 6 disability personas that covered requirements extending beyond the core needs defined in RSSB standards and UK NTSNs; these were mobility, auditory, visual, metabolic, neurological and complex.

The output of this work is a fully validated database of network-wide accessibility features that can be queried and presented to stakeholders for impactful and data driven decision making. This output provides a platform for several follow on opportunities, including the integration of this data with other third-party datasets (e.g. census data and metrics), or the development of potential passenger support tools that provide enhanced and comprehensive journey planning information.“