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The ExploreStation report has been published!

Thank you for your interest in the ExploreStation programme and for sharing your thoughts, feedback and ideas on Network Rail’s new design for small and medium sized stations across Great Britain. We had a wonderful response to our programme, across Commonplace, workshops and immersive virtual reality experiences, and the report detailing all your reviewed and collated feedback is now ready.

Download report

The report was formally launched at a programme of events at the London Design Festival on Wednesday this week and we have been thrilled with the response.

In addition to containing insights and recommendations to Network Rail and the design team based on what you said, the report also provides strategic insights and recommendations to Network Rail about delivering the new proposed station and to the infrastructure sector about design and engagement programmes.

The report also details all the activities we undertook and our overall approach to the programme. We hope you find it as interesting and exciting as we found it to lead the programme and meet and hear from people across Great Britain.

Do look out in the coming years for future engagement programmes where the station may be coming to a location near you, so you can have your say then too.

Download report

All the best

The ExploreStation Team

Digital Urban's installation for ExploreStation

ExploreStation phase 2 kicked off last week with the launch of the first virtual reality immersive experience events, led by Digital Urban , in York before we head off on a tour of Great Britain with a programme of collaborative workshops and immersive experiences.

We’re continuing to gather your insights, opinions, and ideas on the HUB station proposals, and we’d also like to know how you think future stations should deliver for those in their communities.

Whether you’re a regular commuter, an occasional traveller or someone who lives close to the railway, ExploreStation is your opportunity to be part of developing plans for future passenger hubs – local stations putting communities, the planet, and people at their heart. There are still spaces available to attend our collaborative workshops and virtual reality immersive experiences. We’ll be visiting locations across Great Britain in the coming weeks, and we’d love to hear from you.

Each of our activities is being led by pioneering organisations in their field. Digital Urban are leading the virtual reality immersive experiences in Manchester, Hereford and Paisley. The Glass-house Community Led Design are running collaborative workshops in Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton and online. The discussions will continue throughout May and we invite you to join us and share your views!

There are still spaces available to join us:

• Manchester

• Hereford

• Paisley

• Liverpool

• Brighton

• or Online

Find out more and book yours space here .

If you can’t make it along to one of the events you can still share your views online. The ExploreStation Commonplace will remain open throughout May with a new set of questions.

Share your views here .

If you are interested in finding out more about the station design, the history behind it, and what to expect at the ExploreStation events, take a listen to Gareth Dennis’ Rail Natter episode here .

We look forward to seeing you soon.

The ExploreStation team

Today individuals and organisations across the UK shared their #GreatBritishStation and rail experiences on Twitter and Instagram. We would love to share some highlights with you. We've given these below and, if you'd like to participate too, it's not too late - there are instructions in this tweet .

We hope you enjoyed this selection and you can see more posts by searching for #GreatBritishStation on Instagram and Twitter.

And don't forget you can join us and tell us about what you look for in a #GreatBritishStation and shape stations of the future, by joining our collaborative design workshops and immersive virtual reality experiences across Great Britain. The workshops are run by The Glass-House Community Led Design and the immersive experiences are led by Digital Urban . You can read more about what to expect at the workshops here and at the immersive experiences here .

All the events are FREE to attend and booking details are given below. We look forward to seeing you there!

The ExploreStation Team

York immersive experience

4 & 5 May, National Railway Museum

BOOK NOW

Shildon immersive experience

7 & 8 May, Locomotion

BOOK NOW

Manchester immersive experience

11, 12 & 13 May, Museum of Science and Industry

BOOK NOW

Hereford immersive experience

16 & 17 May, Shell Store Incubation Centre

BOOK NOW

Paisley immersive experience

19 and 20 May, Telford’s Pub

BOOK NOW

WORKSHOPS

Liverpool workshop

11 May, Bluecoat Chambers from 18:00-20:30 (dinner provided)

BOOK NOW

Manchester workshop for families and children

12 May, Museum of Science and Industry, 14:00-16:30

BOOK NOW

Brighton workshop

25 May, University of Brighton, 17:30-20:00 (dinner provided)

BOOK NOW

We are also hosting an online workshop on Zoom. Everyone is invited to participate in this event which will focus on how the HUB station accommodates those who identify as neurodiverse and/or physically or mentally disabled.

Online workshop

26 May, Zoom, 18:00-20:00

BOOK NOW

If you cannot join us in person, don’t forget, you can also give your feedback online at the ExploreStation Commonplace .

We’re delighted to announce that booking has now opened to participate in our ExploreStation immersive virtual reality experiences, taking place in York, Shildon, Manchester, Hereford and Paisley. The immersive experiences are pop-up events, led by Digital Urban, at which you can use virtual reality goggles to travel through the station. Find out more about the immersive experiences here .

ExploreStation is your opportunity to tell Network Rail what you think of its new design for local stations. There are over 2,000 small to medium-sized stations across Great Britain and the design could play a role in significantly improving our environment in urban, semi-urban and rural environments and creating places for communities. We want to know what you think, so we can make the design the best it can be for you!

Please note all events are FREE TO ATTEND but we recommend booking as soon as possible, as places are limited.

You can join us at the following locations:

York immersive experience

4 & 5 May, National Railway Museum

BOOK NOW

Shildon immersive experience

7 & 8 May, Locomotion

BOOK NOW

Manchester immersive experience

11, 12 & 13 May, Museum of Science and Industry

BOOK NOW

Hereford immersive experience

16 & 17 May, Shell Store Incubation Centre

BOOK NOW

Paisley immersive experience

19 and 20 May, Telford’s Pub

BOOK NOW

Don't forget you can still book your place at our collaborative design workshops, led by The Glass-House Community Led Design , too!

Liverpool workshop

11 May, Bluecoat Chambers from 18:00-20:30 (dinner provided)

BOOK NOW

Manchester workshop for families and children

12 May, Museum of Science and Industry, 14:00-16:30

BOOK NOW

Brighton workshop

25 May, University of Brighton, 17:30-20:00 (dinner provided)

BOOK NOW

We are also hosting an online workshop on Zoom. Everyone is invited to participate in this event which will focus on how the HUB station accommodates those who identify as neurodiverse and/or physically or mentally disabled.

Online workshop

26 May, Zoom, 18:00-20:00

BOOK NOW

If you cannot join us in person, don’t forget, you can also give your feedback online at the ExploreStation Commonplace .

We look forward to hearing from you!

The ExploreStation Team

We're excited to announce that booking has now opened for ExploreStation workshops, taking place in Liverpool, Manchester, Brighton and online.

The workshops will be a opportunities to work with The Glass-House Community Led Design and other participants to explore the HUB proposals through a series of hands-on and creative design activities. These free workshops will create time and space to ask questions, share ideas, and feed into how future stations can better meet their community ambitions. Your contributions will inform the next stage of development of the HUB station and help ensure it will serve the diverse needs of the Great British public.

BOOK YOUR FREE PLACE NOW:

Liverpool - 11 May

Bluecoat Chambers from 18:00-20:30 (dinner provided)

BOOK NOW

Manchester - 12 May - workshop for families and children

Museum of Science and Industry, 14:00-16:30

BOOK NOW

Brighton workshop - 25 May

University of Brighton, 17:30-20:00 (dinner provided)

BOOK NOW

We are also hosting an online workshop on Zoom. Everyone is welcome to participate in this event which will focus on how the HUB station accommodates those who identify as neurodiverse and/or physically or mentally disabled.

Online workshop

26 May, Zoom, 18:00-20:00

BOOK NOW

If you can't attend these events, don't forget that we will be announcing the locations and dates for our immersive virtual reality experiences shortly. Till then, don't forget to give your feedback on our Commonplace platform .

ExploreStation is back! In November last year ExploreStation launched to tell you all about Network Rail's new design for local stations and ask you what you think. We were delighted to receive over 6,000 visitors via Commonplace and over 2,000 comments giving your thoughts and suggestions for how the design could progress.

This feedback was given to 7N Architects, the team that won the competition to design the station, who incorporated your feedback and have responded with updated proposals, which you can see here .

You can find out all about the updated design and see new visuals, find out how the design responds to public feedback and incorporates your thoughts and understand which of your suggestions the design team will not be taking forward and why.

Most importantly, we invite you to give us your feedback again. 7N Architects will continue to take your thoughts on board as the design continues to develop and you can have your say, and continue to shape the future of Great Britain’s local stations, here .

Take this opportunity to comment on everything, from the sustainability measures to what you think of the new waiting room ‘pod’ and activities you would like to see in the ‘activity framework’.

This stage of engagement is open till 25 March, so find out more and tell us what you think now .

You will have further opportunities to tell us what you think when the Commonplace platform opens again in May, as well as attend in-person and online workshops and immersive experiences across Great Britain. Booking for these free events will open shortly. Till then you can save the date for events near you. The full list is given below.

Open session

Open session aimed at families and students

Open session

This workshop will focus on how the HUB station accommodates those who identify as neurodiverse and/or physically or mentally disabled

Immersive experiences will bring the new HUB Station design to life, allowing you and up to three friends to experience the station together in 20-minute slots that can be booked in advance.

We look forward to hearing from you!

The ExploreStation Team

The second round of ExploreStation’s public engagement events will now take place in May 2022.

The ExploreStation Team and Network Rail are delighted with the quality and depth of the public feedback received on the design for local stations so far. The proposals potentially affect more than 2,000 of Britain’s small and medium railway stations and will influence the lives of millions of people now and in generations to come, so it’s extremely encouraging to see such strong support for the innovative kit-of-parts approach. It’s also great to see the community ambitions behind the concept welcomed so roundly.

We are listening hard to what’s being said. Many of the people who engaged in Round 1 conversations said they wanted to respond in more detail to how the modular approach will reflect and adapt to different local contexts. Public stakeholders also said they wanted to better feedback on how the design will address the complexities and realities of station design and passenger experiences on the ground.

In response to this feedback, and to ensure that the next round of activities is as encompassing and inclusive as possible, ExploreStation has amended the timings of its Round 2 events from February to May 2022, giving time to create an engagement programme that responds in detail to public comments.

We’ll be bringing new content to Commonplace in the coming weeks and will keep you informed about new dates and venues for ExploreStation’s Round 2 engagement events. We look forward to hearing more of your views soon, The ExploreStation Team

Thank you for participating in ExploreStation – a nationwide initiative to explore an exciting new future for the design of small and medium-sized railway stations across Britain. We were excited to receive over 2,000 comments and over 6,000 visitors to the Commonplace website, along with feedback from conversations we held at online and in-person workshops in Sheffield, Bristol and Cardiff.

As you know, Round 1 detailed and asked for your views on: the design principles; the ‘kit of parts’ approach; the individual elements of the kit of parts, including the landscape and activity framework; creating a more inclusive experience and the way the design addresses Network Rail’s sustainability and biodiversity strategies.

The Round 1 results demonstrated significant support for the design principles, the design, including the ‘kit-of-parts’ approach, and for stations to play a greater role in civic life. There was also considerable support for how the design helps to address climate change and biodiversity loss. A lot of you were keen to see this station delivered where you live.

However, some of you expressed concerns about the openness of the station design and how protected people would be from the elements, wind and rain in particular, as well as expressing a desire for more information on the station waiting areas and how the proposals will fit into the diverse contexts within which it may be located.

7N Architects are currently responding to these and other comments we received and you will be able to see and tell us more of what you think of these more detailed designs, and how it will affect your experience of stations, at Round 2 of ExploreStation .

The ExploreStation Team, led by Design Council with our partners Digital Urban , The Glass-House Community Led Design and Commonplace , are now delighted to announce our Round 2 programme. In addition to the online Commonplace platform, which anyone anywhere can use to view the updated proposals and give their thoughts, we will host online and in-person workshops once again. We have also added a new activity at this stage; we are hosting a series of pop-up immersive virtual reality experiences, at which you can use VR goggles to move through the station.

These free workshops and immersive experiences will take place at locations across Britain in February 2022, and we’d like you to be involved.

We have listed the event dates, locations and times below and booking will open in the New Year – for now, we encourage you to save the date .

If you cannot make it, don’t forget you will be able to engage with updated ExploreStation Round 2 proposals through Commonplace, explorestation.commonplace.is , at any time from the beginning of February until 14 March 2022.

Thanks again for your interest in ExploreStation. We wish you the best for the festive season and a wonderful New Year. We’re very much looking forward to, hopefully, meeting you at one of our February 2022 events!

Best wishes,

The ExploreStation Team

ExploreStation immersive virtual reality pop-up events

Each pop-up offers the option of bookable or walk-in slots from 10:00–17:00 each day (10:00–18:00 in Hereford and Paisley). The full guided experience takes between 15 and 20 minutes. In line with Covid-19 protocol, all touch points will be cleaned between visits.

• York (National Railway Museum) – 2 and 3 February

• Shildon (Locomotion Museum) – 5 and 6 February

• Manchester (Science and Industry Museum) – 9, 10 and 11 February

• Hereford (Shell Store) – 15, 16 and 17 February

• Paisley (Telfords Paisley) – 22 and 23 February

Each event will be accompanied by a mini exhibition presenting the ExploreStation journey so far.

ExploreStation collaborative design workshops

Workshops run from 18:00 to 20:30 with refreshments and dinner provided.

• Brighton– 8 February

• Liverpool– 10 February

An online workshop focusing on how the station accommodates those who identify as neurodiverse and or physically and mentally disabled will take place on 01 March from 18:00 to 20:30.

• Online workshop – 01 March

Based in or around Sheffield, Bristol and Cardiff? You can join us for one of our exhibitions and workshops and tell us what you think in person.

• Sheffield – 2 November - book here

• Bristol – 3 November - book here

• Cardiff – 4 November - book here

Refreshments and dinner will be provided at the workshops.

We want to hear from as many people as possible to ensure that Britain’s future stations work for all of us – please share this invitation with friends, family and professional networks.

More information about ExploreStation and ways to get involved can be found in the flyer here .

We look forward to hearing your views,

The ExploreStation Team