Scaling Accessible Rail in Japan
How Hankyu Railway is using Passenger Assistance to support rising demand, improve coordination and build a more sustainable model for accessible travel.
From Reactive Coordination to Proactive Assisted Travel .
How East Midlands Airport is using Transreport’s Passenger Assistance Management System to transform the management of its growing Assisted Travel operation; giving teams real-time visibility of passenger demand, enabling more proactive resource planning and reducing reliance on manual coordination and radio communication.
The challenge
Demand for assistance at East Midlands Airport has grown by around 25% year on year.
As passenger numbers increased, teams coordinating agents, drivers, equipment, flights and aircraft movements needed faster access to accurate operational information.
The airport’s previous system was no longer supporting the way the team wanted to work. Routine processes involved multiple steps, passenger information could be difficult to locate and teams relied heavily on radio communication to allocate work.
For frontline colleagues, this could mean spending more time navigating the system and less time focused on the passenger.
Customer Service Duty Manager at East Midlands Airport explains:
“You were not heads up dealing with your passengers. You were heads down in the system, trying to work out who you were dealing with, where they were meant to be going.”
East Midlands Airport needed a platform that could simplify coordination for frontline teams while giving supervisors clearer oversight of the operation.
The solution
East Midlands Airport partnered with Transreport to adopt digital Assisted Travel platform to support its existing operational model.
Rather than introducing an off-the-shelf system, Transreport worked directly with the teams delivering the service. The team shadowed agents and drivers and ran workshops with frontline colleagues to understand how assistance moved through the airport and where existing processes were creating unnecessary pressure.
The resulting platform brings passenger requirements, live operational information and staff tasks into one shared view.
Before each operating day, teams can see the passengers they are expecting, their flights and the level of assistance required. Supervisors can use this information to identify peaks in arrivals and departures, anticipate pressure points and plan resources accordingly.
During the operation, the platform shows passenger check-in information and journey progress, while agents and drivers receive tasks directly through the system.
Supervisors can pre-assign upcoming work rather than distributing every task individually over the radio. This gives frontline teams greater visibility of what is coming next, while giving managers a clearer view of resource deployment across the airport.
Passenger information can also be updated as journeys progress. Staff can record changes to assistance requirements and add relevant notes, ensuring teams are working from the most up-to-date information available.
The impact
Transreport has enabled East Midlands Airport to move towards a more proactive approach to managing Assisted Travel.
Instead of waiting for demand to materialise, duty managers can see expected passenger volumes and assistance requirements in advance, identify pressure points and allocate resources around them.
This gives supervisors greater control over the operational day and helps teams prepare for busy arrival and departure periods before they happen.
Digital task allocation has also reduced the amount of routine information being communicated over the radio.
Jade Daniel, Assisted Travel Operations Supervisor, says: “The radio chatter has massively decreased. The drivers know their jobs, the agents know their jobs just by looking down at their phones and seeing what’s been assigned to them.”
For frontline teams, the system has made operational information faster and easier to access. Check-in processes have become quicker, background administrative tasks have been simplified and staff with different levels of digital confidence have been able to adopt the technology more easily.
The operational benefit also translates into the passenger experience.
Staff can access the information they need quickly, understand the passenger’s initial assistance requirements and then focus on the individual conversation rather than the technology.
The staff describes the change as moving from a system that could take attention away from passengers to one that supports the interaction:
“We are no longer heads down in our system. The system is giving us relevant information. My team can approach a member of the travelling public and greet them by name.”
For East Midlands Airport, the partnership demonstrates how technology can support both operational efficiency and a more personalised Assisted Travel service as demand continues to increase.
“You couldn’t be working with a more engaged team who are open to your operation, who are there to really work hand in hand with how you are already working, with the added benefit of a system that’s going to support your customers’ journey.”
Case studies
Real results across rail networks
Transport for Wales
Giving frontline teams the tools to deliver reliable, consistent support for every passenger, every day.
Swansea Scales Accessible Rail Through Innovation
How Passenger Assistance enabled a 103% increase through a structured, technology-enabled approach to accessibility.
Euston
Transforming accessibility at one of the UK’s busiest stations through a connected, digital approach to coordination and delivery.
Rail Delivery Group
A national shift from manual, phone-based assistance to a scalable digital system improving efficiency, reducing costs and increasing passenger confidence.