The first UK rail station has permanently installed innovative technology to help people with hearing loss. Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express are using Auracast, Bluetooth technology which ensures that station announcements are broadcast direct from the public address system to hearing aids. The system, which needs no pairing of devices, also streams to compatible headphones and earbuds worn by other commuters, overcoming the poor acoustics of the 185-year-old Grade II* listed station building. 
The Auracast technology is already used in a number of theatres across London’s West End. It was recently tested at Bristol Temple Meads station, but Brighton is the first permanent installation. Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express are using Brighton as a permanent pilot in the hope that a high take-up of passengers using the technology will lead to funding being granted for a wider roll-out across the railways.
“This technology will have a huge impact, overcoming the difficulty of hearing announcements in our beautiful but acoustically very challenging, noisy station at Brighton,” said Carl Martin, accessibility lead for Southern, Thameslink and Gatwick Express. “Auracast is new to the railway and we’re delighted to have installed it permanently at Brighton station. As people upgrade their devices, more will find they have access to crystal clear announcements.”
Alastair Moore, Technology Lead at the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID), welcomed the installation: “However, for the 18 million people in the UK who are deaf or have hearing loss, announcements can remain a major barrier. Places like stations often have high levels of reverberation and background noise making important information hard to understand. We hope this will encourage more places across public transport, education, healthcare, performing arts and places of worship, to adopt Auracast and help make public spaces accessible for deaf people and people with hearing loss.”
