Hankyu Railway empower accessible rail travel in Japan with new app

The Passenger Assistance platform is designed to support Disabled and older passengers, and anyone requiring assistance who prefers to communicate their accessibility requirements in advance, to use public transport with greater ease and confidence. By creating a single profile, passengers can communicate their access needs ahead of travel, if preferred, and opt-in to save those requirements for future journeys, eliminating the need to repeat personal details and providing a smoother, more convenient experience.

Passenger Assistance Web also equips frontline railway staff with advance information on assistance requests to allow for more timely and efficient responses. This creates confidence for both railway staff and passengers, and builds trust and reassurance that a passenger’s journey will run smoothly.

“The launch of our Passenger Assistance web application is not just about enabling pre-booking assistance,”says Natsuko Kikawa, Head of Japan at Transreport. “It’s about creating an extra layer of reassurance and a more seamless, comfortable travel experience for every passenger. By connecting railway operators and disabled passengers on a single platform, we are evolving assistance beyond traditional frameworks. Leading up to the launch, we conducted multiple user tests with disabled passengers and gathered feedback from station staff to make targeted improvements. We will continue to prioritize both passenger and staff feedback, ensuring the platform remains accessible and efficient for all passengers while streamlining staff operations to help them stay aligned, informed, and ready to provide timely support.”

Hankyu is the first railway operator in Japan to adopt the Passenger Assistance platform, and Transreport plans to expand its technology to more railway operators in the future.

The launch of Passenger Assistance Web follows a successful implementation of Transreport’s staff-side technology that is live across all 87 Hankyu stations, facilitating over 22,000 monthly assistances on average. This new milestone empowers passengers to arrange assistance directly, promoting autonomy, confidence, and independent travel.

“We decided to introduce Transreport’s system as we believe it will enable us to better support smooth boarding and alighting through pre-travel support requests from our customers,” says Shuichiro Ejima, Manager of the Operations Sales Division at Hankyu Railway.“We hope this system will be adopted by other railway operators as well, and contribute to the realisation of a society where those who need assistance can travel more freely and seamlessly. Going forward, we will continue to work closely with Transreport and listen to our customers’ feedback to create a travel environment that offers peace of mind.”

Passenger Assistance Web is available in both Japanese and English, and is compatible with assistive technologies including screen readers. The system is designed to be user-friendly for people with a wide range of access needs, including wheelchair users and people with visual impairments, while empowering Hankyu staff to deliver a more accessible travel experience for all.

Tomoto Rokujo, a wheelchair user and member of the Accessibility Panel establish by Transreport, shared his experience: “I usually travel independently in my power chair, but when I take the train, I rely on station staff to assist with boarding and alighting due to the gap between the train and the platform, which requires a ramp. I prefer to inform the staff in advance about my destination and any transfers. With Passenger Assistance, I was able to pre-book not only the boarding and alighting stations but also the transfer times. When I arrived at the station, the staff confirmed, ‘You’re the one with the reservation, correct?’ and the process went very smoothly. The station staff at each location were aware of the reservation details, which gave me peace of mind. I hope the option to reserve in advance will make it easier and less stressful for passengers like me, without needing to explain everything on the spot.”

K.S., a user with visual impairment who also participated in the usability testing* for Passenger Assistance, commented “There are times I can take the train independently without issue, but when the route from the platform to the ticket gate is long or complex, I sometimes feel uneasy. With the current support systems of many railway operators, assistance can only be requested at the boarding station, which can lead to difficulties at the destination station. With Passenger Assistance, I was able to specify the type of support I needed at the destination station in advance when making a request. This gave me a sense of security and I found it very helpful for traveling independently.”

*Usability testing: A process conducted during the development stage of a product or new feature, in which actual users try out the service to assess its usability and effectiveness. It aims to incorporate user feedback based on real-life scenarios to improve the product.