Greater Anglia has launched an online virtual tour of Ingatestone railway station designed to support journey planning.

The virtual tour is designed to give customers a clearer picture of the station before they travel, and is especially useful for disabled customers wanting to check how accessible their journey is.

A spoken scene guide with closed captions plays on the home page at the station entrance, which is where the online virtual tour starts. From there, users can find out how to get to all public areas of the station including the toilets, customer service desk, platforms, and anywhere else they might need to visit, such as car parks or drop off areas, making it easier for them to plan their journey in advance.

Detailed 360-degree photography was used to map the station and capture all public spaces. Users can navigate virtually, even visiting the toilet or the waiting room before going to the platform. Aerial photography and an interactive map have also been used to show the entire station layout, with ‘hot spot’ links to specific areas of the station.

A drop-down menu system highlights key features such as tactile paving , which is textured paving on the edge of platforms,and allows users to locate assisted travel meeting points, toilets, and individual platforms.

Future developments will look at incorporating British Sign Language videos as part of Greater Anglia’s commitment to improving customer information.

The company is creating 360-degree virtual, tours which can be viewed on any device, for 11 of its busiest stations. Now available are Bishops Stortford, Broxbourne, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Colchester, Harlow Town, Norwich, Shenfield, Southend Victoria, and Stansted Airport, with Ipswich to follow.

The virtual tours can be viewed online here or at https://www.greateranglia.co.uk/travel-information/your-journey/virtual-tours

Greater Anglia’s Accessibility Manager, Rebecca Richardson, said

“The idea was to create a tool for customers to assist them with their journey planning and reduce the anxiety about whether the station would create any accessibility barriers. We want to give people who may not have travelled by rail for a while or maybe not at all, to do so with confidence.

“We are committed to making rail more accessible and providing quality information to enable more informed journey planning.

Neil Henderson, Managing Director of Virtual Tour Experts, said, “We’ve really enjoyed working on this project to create a number of industry firsts. The world of VR is developing fast but until now that development has not given due consideration to online accessibility.

“This tour is the World’s first to incorporate an accessibility widget, guided tours, subtitled scene guides and there is much more to come. The user-first attitude of the team at Greater Anglia provided the perfect base for development and will ensure the platform continues to evolve.”