British sign language introduces at major railway stations

Monday, April 24, 2023

Some of the country’s busiest railway stations, including Liverpool Lime Street, Manchester Piccadilly and Birmingham New Street, now have British Sign Language travel announcements.

These stations are Birmingham New Street station London Euston station (went live in June 2021), Liverpool Lime Street station, Manchester Piccadilly station, Leeds station, Reading station, London Paddington station and Bristol Temple Meads station

Network Rail managed stations in the United Kingdom have introduced touch screens showing signed travel information for deaf passengers.

The screens have been developed over the past three years in collaboration with screen manufacturer LB Foster, and now offer standard messaging that can be instantly viewed in British Sign Language (BSL), as well as bespoke messaging in response to developing situations. Interpreters are on standby to turn messaging into BSL within an hour, with videos uploaded directly to the screens using 4G technology. The screens were first piloted at Euston station in 2021, and now all four Network Rail stations in the North West and Central region have installed them. The technology is part of the company’s commitment to improving accessibility, and passenger director for the region, Dave Penney, hopes the initiative will boost the confidence of deaf passengers using the rail network.

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