Ideas to enhance passenger safety and reduce anxiety at Bristol Temple Meads station are being actively sought, as Connected Places Catapult, the UK’s innovation accelerator for transport and the built environment, today opened applications for its latest cohort of innovators.
Now in its fourth year, the Station Innovation Zone is a collaborative partnership between Connected Places Catapult and Network Rail, funded by Innovate UK. The programme provides a unique environment for small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to trial groundbreaking technologies that have the potential to improve the passenger experience or enhance safety within railway stations. To date, the Station Innovation Zone has supported 25 innovative firms in developing their ideas, with eight having already undertaken live trials at Bristol Temple Meads.
This year’s programme is focused on two key themes, inviting applicants to propose solutions for:
Station Weather Resilience: Predicting, Preventing and Responding to Wet Floors
This challenge seeks innovations to help combat surface condensation on station floors, which can lead to slips and falls. Beyond typical rain, certain atmospheric conditions can cause air to condense and reach a “dew point,” resulting in damp station floors and reduced slip resistance. Solutions should aim to reduce the need for temporary matting and decrease the frequency of public safety announcements. Applicants are encouraged to consider the heritage status of the station building and the accessibility needs of all passengers. Collaboration among innovators is also welcomed, as multiple solutions may be required to fully address the issue.
Improving the Interchange Experience: Addressing Passenger Rushing and Reducing Anxiety
This theme focuses on solutions that help passengers feel relaxed, prepared, and in control when faced with changes to their service, delays, or cancellations while interchanging between trains or switching to another mode of transport. Systems should aim to minimise conflicts between the needs of stationary passengers and those moving quickly or slowly, particularly when a designated platform changes shortly before a train’s arrival. Solutions designed to influence passenger behaviour and reduce anxiety could include physical innovations within stations, such as the use of light, sound, or other visual stimuli, as well as digital approaches like augmented reality.
Up to eight companies will be selected to participate in this year’s programme, each receiving an initial £4,000 to develop a trial plan. From these, a maximum of three will be chosen to proceed to live trials over a six-month period at Bristol Temple Meads, with each receiving up to £45,000 to support their deployment at the station. All successful applicants will benefit from business development and investment readiness support, along with opportunities to showcase their technology at relevant industry events.
Applications are open until Wednesday 24th September 2025 via the Connected Places Catapult website.
Alan Peters, Rail Director at Connected Places Catapult, said: “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.”
Brian Wortman, Senior Programme Manager at Network Rail, said: “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.”
Reflecting on their experience from 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.”
Christian Kerrigan, founder of Co-You, another company that trialled its technology in year two, described the Bristol Temple Meads trial as an “amazing experience” for taking their carbon capture product from a laboratory to a real-world environment and providing access to Network Rail stakeholders. He added that the trial also opened up discussions for new partnerships on other projects, stating: “We wouldn’t have been able to access the rail market without the trial. It was a very supportive and engaged process.”
