Northern has announced details of six projects given the green light due to its £250,000 Accessibility Innovation Fund.  

Projects include using AI to interpret customer announcements into British Sign Language, a scheme to encourage older people to have days out on the train and a hub to rent out wheelchairs and mobility scooters. 

The fund is designed to empower communities to make decisions which will improve the railway for all and is now in its second year.  

The successful bids were chosen by the independent Northern Accessibility User Group (NAUG) and supported by Northern.  

Mark Powles, commercial and customer director, at Northern said:

“Our customers are the heart of everything we do, and we are dedicated to making Northern’s services accessible to everyone, and to having a positive impact for the north."

Mark Wilson, chair of NAUG, said:

"The fund has again produced a wide range of ideas aimed at improving accessibility of rail travel across the Northerns network and our user group panel was faced with a very tough job to decide the winners."