Young People: The Champions of Rail

In partnership with:

We asked 100 young people this question:

In the age of autonomous vehicles, how might we make rail the transport of choice for young people?

Introducing the LNER Future of Rail SuperSquad

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.

£18,849
Paid into the teen economy
35
NPS from students
3,600
student hours

Highlighted idea from the SuperSquad

OFFICE ON RAILS – Designated office carriages to work, study and revise

The result:

1,000+ ideas on the Future of Rail

Out of their final database of 1,000+ ideas, we set out the top four key themes:

  • Office on rails. Designated office carriages to work, study and revise.
  • A safe space for all. Teenager-only carriages, to travel in safety.
  • Tiered wifi access. Three types of tickets – a new tiering for rail travel.
  • Rail rewards. A gamified loyalty scheme with discounts and partnerships.
Who better to prepare the industry for the future than future customers themselves?

The Williams-Shapps Plan for Rail, identifies three of the key problems with the current network as:

  • The rail sector too often loses sight of its customers
  • It is missing opportunities to meet the needs of the communities it serves.
  • It struggles to innovate.

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.

With students selected from

Nene Park Academy
Bonus Pastor Catholic College
Armadale Academy

Testimonials

Hear what our clients and some of the students have to say about working with us…

Check our our social value pack

Contains a detailed overview of the programmes and a bid support appendix