Case study · Vitoria-Gasteiz
The Gasteiz tram learns to speak.
On 15 March 2023, the Basque Government’s Department of Transport (through ETS-RFV) and Euskotren complete the deployment of NaviLens at every stop of the Vitoria-Gasteiz Tram. The Alava capital joins Metro Bilbao L3, the Bilbao tram and the Txorierri line.
15 Mar 2023
Full rollout on the Vitoria-Gasteiz Tram
100%
Network stops with NaviLens code
Line T1 + T2
Angulema · Ibaiondo · Abetxuko · Salburua
ETS-RFV
Operator: Euskotren · Department of Transport
The client
Euskotren · ETS-RFV
Vitoria-Gasteiz Tram
The Vitoria-Gasteiz Tram is one of the symbols of sustainable mobility in the Alava capital: two lines (T1 and T2) connecting Angulema with Ibaiondo, Abetxuko and Salburua through the historic centre, with stops fully accessible at platform level.
The service is operated by Euskotren and the infrastructure is run by the Basque Railway Network (ETS-RFV), within the Basque Government’s Department of Transport. Sensory accessibility completes the operator’s historic catalogue: tactile paving, ONCE/Ciberpass speakers on machines and validators, on-board audio description and now NaviLens at every stop.
In March 2025, the Basque Government confirmed the completion of the rollout across the entire railway network operated by Euskotren — Topo, Bilbao and Vitoria-Gasteiz trams, Metro Bilbao Line 3 and Txorierri — establishing NaviLens as the standard for sustainable mobility in the Basque Country.
§ The challenge
A barrier-free network that also speaks to those who can’t see it.
- 01
An urban network 100% at street level
The Vitoria-Gasteiz tram runs without physical barriers: platform-level stops, vegetation between tracks and glass shelters. That very transparency makes it hard to orient yourself when you can’t see: where does the stop begin, what is its name, which line passes, where is the next tram headed?
- 02
Consistency with the rest of the Basque network
Metro Bilbao L3, the Bilbao tram and the Txorierri line were already operating with NaviLens. Vitoria needed the same grammar so that a blind person from Bilbao could move around Gasteiz — or the other way around — without relearning the system.
- 03
Dynamic information per stop
It’s not enough to identify the stop: you have to deliver the lines that serve it, next arrival times, incidents and a description of the surroundings, in the language of each person’s phone and from several metres away, without aiming.
§ The solution
One beacon per stop and the free NaviLens GO app.
At every tram stop, the ETS-RFV team installs two complementary elements: a top beacon with the large-format NaviLens code on Euskotren’s green totem — detectable from several metres away, even from inside the shelter — and an adhesive plate on the glass next to the sign, in Basque and Spanish (“Eskaneatu · Scan with NaviLens GO”).
With the free app, a blind or low-vision person hears the stop name aloud (Ibaiondo, Gernikako Arbola, Artapadura…), the line that serves it, the next arrival times and the description of the surroundings in their phone’s language.
The system coexists with Euskotren’s other long-standing measures: tactile paving, dual-height ticket machines and ONCE speakers on validators. NaviLens covers what was missing: pre-boarding orientation.
§ Stop by stop
From Ibaiondo to Salburua, the same grammar.
The same signal at every stop — Angulema, Honduras, Gernikako Arbola, Artapadura, Ibaiondo, Abetxuko, Salburua… — and across the rest of the Basque network: Metro Bilbao L3, Bilbao tram, Topo and Txorierri. One app, the whole system.
§ Why it matters
The first regional standard for accessible mobility.
100%
of Vitoria-Gasteiz tram stops covered from day one, with no partial pilots: a political and technical decision for a full rollout.
5 networks
one grammar for Metro Bilbao L3, Bilbao tram, Txorierri, Topo and Gasteiz tram. Whoever learns NaviLens on one train can use it across the Basque Country.
2025
Sustainable Mobility completes the rollout across the entire Basque Government railway network. The Vitoria case was one of the key milestones on that roadmap.
§ Sources
- Euskotren — “Transport rolls out the NaviLens guidance system for visually impaired people on the Vitoria-Gasteiz Tram” (17 Mar 2023).
- ETS-RFV — “Garraio Sailak NaviLens gidatze-sistema ezarri du Gasteizko tranbian” (official note in Basque).
- Basque Government · Euskadi.eus — “Sustainable Mobility completes the rollout of the guidance system for visually impaired people across its railway network” (26 Mar 2025).
- Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council — Official guide to NaviLens codes in the city.
- Euskotren — Tram accessibility: tactile paving, ONCE speakers, audio description and NaviLens.
§ And your network?
Your next station can also speak.
Tell us about your network, your pain points and the KPIs you want to move. We’ll show you how NaviLens would fit —with comparable cases.
