About Cardiff Productions
Cardiff Productions is a television content production company based in Cardiff.
My application to Clwstwr was inspired by a train journey
I was on the train from London to Edinburgh, and as the train was going up the East Coast, I noticed an electronic notice board mounted at the end of my carriage. It would say things like, ‘arriving in York in 22 minutes’ and as we arrived in York it would say ‘Trains to Manchester, platform 15; Scarborough platform 7’etc.
I realised the train’s messaging was geo-contextually aware, providing information specific to its location in real time and space. A bit further up the coast, we went past the Angel of the North. This got me thinking about how good it would be if the train’s messaging could have given me some information about what I could see through my window, or maybe give me some information about the places I’m passing through.
As someone interested in innovation and possibilities, I was inspired
To see if it’d be possible to create and deliver geo-contextual information and entertainment to a train, I embarked upon my Tunnel Vision project. We carried out a feasibility study with a total budget of £15,000, of which £10,000 came from Clwstwr. I wanted to better understand whether this idea would be possible on trains in Wales, and, if so, what information and entertainment you could provide and what the audience demand would be (if any).
The process involved two areas of research
The technical track looked at the state of technology regarding the provision of geo-contextual data to a train, and forecasting where the technology was going to go. The audience track looked at what the different audience needs are on trains in Wales – what the best way to serve passengers is and what they’d want.
The technical track began by looking at who operates trains in Wales
I looked at the WiFi capabilities of these trains. I’d experienced the West Coast Main Line between London and Glasgow, where I could log on instantly and stream without latency because there was a server in the carriage. Similar services were also being provided on commuter trains in the midlands.
In Wales, however, there wasn’t the same level of investment. If trains had WiFi, it was WiFi that relied on connection to a satellite, which meant that passengers would get buffering and drop-out. This is especially true given the welsh landscape. At the time, Transport For Wales were in the middle of modernising their fleet, and I had thought that might include updating the WiFi to a better service, but they didn’t improve the WiFi because it would cost too much.
We also looked at WiFi provision in stations and the uptake of digital ticketing
Transport For Wales were pushing people towards buying e-tickets through their phones because it made it easier for them to control passenger numbers during the COVID pandemic. This got us thinking about how this push towards e-ticketing could feed into the digital space, which would be beneficial for our proposal.
Part two, the audience track, involved talking to passenger transport groups in Wales
Every Welsh railway line has a passenger transport group, where committed passengers give their feedback on the services. Each line has its own objective. For example, the Heart of Wales line’s objective was to get people to spend more time in the villages along the route. They were advising passengers about what they could do in the areas around the stations on their line, for example where to get off, do a 6 mile walk and then rejoin the line to return to their start point. This contrasted with the goal of the trains through the South Wales Valleys, which revolved around commuters and commuter volume, or the Holyhead services which were for tourists and travellers.
In theory, trains could support these aims by using contextual geolocation information to drive passengers towards company goals. So, on the Heart of Wales Line, they could have thematic audiobooks with stories from the region or by regional authors, for people to listen to while they pass from one stop to the next. Or they could have some screens or linked content that display information about landmarks that the train passes. People on longer journeys want entertainment, while commuters want to know the status of the connecting train or bus they’re hoping to get. We also did some focus groups with commuters and leisure travellers to understand what they’d most be interested in.
It’s possible to provide contextual content to Wales’ trains, but the technology is suboptimal
Neither the trains nor the stations are properly set up for people to log on to WiFi and have a viewing experience that will be uninterrupted. The technology infrastructure side wasn't ready.
Furthermore, from the audience behaviour side, we discovered that most people going on long trips download things to watch on the train before they leave their home. Also, on commuter trains, people stand up, so they tend to use their phones for audio rather than video. So, there was some value for some audiences with regards to the proposed content, but it was limited.
We came across an insight which could be the basis of a very different business
A rail ticket tells you where somebody is going to be on a particular day, at a particular time. In the analogue age this information was limited and fragmented, but in the digital age it has value - it creates an opportunity to target passengers with geo-contextual advertising, at a certain time and place that makes it extremely relevant.
Say you booked a train ticket to Cardiff to arrive at 12.15 on Wednesday, companies could use the information to offer you hyperlocal lunch deals, a taxi to meet you at the station or takeaways near your last stop so you can grab and go. The push to e-ticketing will create this user universe anyway, and it’d be useful for both commuters and leisure travellers.
I’d like to carry out further research into this idea. I may not have the time myself, so I am going to work with a young app developer to develop a prototype and put together a value proposition.