But…what is a SuperSquad?
A practical, paid work experience programme where teens engage with real business and societal challenges.
Gen Z and Gen Alpha are the newest and next generation of passengers. They are living in a world that’s very unlike any previous generation and assuming we know how they think or what they want would be a mistake.
So we created a SuperSquad of 150 teenagers aged 13 to 18 and challenged them to come up with innovative new models to get young people on to trains and make the industry fit for the future.
Out of their final database of 1,000+ ideas, we set out the top four key themes:
The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, identifies three of the key problems with the current network as:
Our young people’s four initiatives address all of these points.
First, they all put a defined customer group, young people, front and centre. Office on rails can attract business travellers as well as students. Tiered wifi tickets give all customers a choice, personal to their usage.
Second, each idea fulfils an opportunity to serve a customer group’s very specific needs, such as secure and inclusive carriages that encourage independent travel and build young people’s confidence, or using gamification and discounts – both very important to teenagers – to make the train more affordable, attract them on board and lock in loyalty from a young age.
Third, they tick the innovation box, showing that LNER is committed to pioneering solutions to these network problems. They would show the industry that innovation is possible when the customer is placed at the heart of it, the newest and next customers in particular, and that – as you will see in the report – not all innovation needs to be lengthy and costly.
Contains a detailed overview of the programmes and a bid support appendix
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