A collaboration between Transreport, the UK’s fastest growing accessibility technology company, and one of Japan’s
leading railway companies, Hankyu Corporation, the subsidiary company of Hankyu Hanshin Holdings, Inc., is set to
transform the experience of train travel for disabled and older people in Japan.
Passenger Assistance is an
app designed to make it simpler for disabled and older people to organise the assistance they need when travelling on
public transport.
Using this technology, passengers can book assistance, communicate their access needs, make seat reservations, and
provide feedback on service levels for the journeys they make.
Since launching in the UK in 2021, the app has been used by over 200,000 passengers and processes over 100,000 bookings
per month.
Now, following the successful Proof of Concepts (PoCs), Transreport is partnering with Hankyu Corporation to help
transform train travel for disabled and older people in Japan.
On news of the project, Founder and CEO of Transreport, Jay Shen, said:
“We’re thrilled to be working with Japan’s prestigious and forward-thinking rail network and we’re proud to have been
chosen by Hankyu Corporation to help transform the travel experience for millions of people. Our aim is to make travel
accessible for everyone and this partnership takes us one step closer to achieving that goal.”
With an estimated 37 million people in Japan requiring assistance when travelling, Passenger Assistance has the
potential to make a significant difference to disabled and older passengers.
The partnership also highlights the trust that Japanese railway companies have in Transreport to support their rail
services – Japan has almost four times as many rail stations and 15 times more rail passengers annually than the UK.
There are around 2,600-2,700 rail stations in the UK while Japan has over 9,700 with the country seeing around 25
billion rail journeys annually, compared to the UK’s 1.7 billion.
Jay added: “Japan arguably has one of, if not, the best railway systems in the world. Yet train companies in Japan, like
many around the world, are facing increasing challenges in providing assistance services.”
“The PoCs have proven that our technology will help operators to enhance operational efficiency, reduce cost, uplift
revenue, and increase customer satisfaction. Most importantly it will have a positive impact on millions of disabled and
older passengers each and every year.”
On the announcement, Hankyu Hanshin Holdings said:
“Our group aims to create livable communities where everyone can sustainably and comfortably live by promoting
initiatives such as improving accessibility and barriers to travel using cutting-edge technology in our business area
centred around railway lines.
With this partnership, we will collaborate with Transreport to provide even more convenient accessibility support
services to railway passengers and introduce them to various facilities and services of our group, accelerating our
efforts to create attractive urban development and communities.”
