Case study · The Hague, Netherlands
A kopstation without braille, navigated by voice.
How ProRail —together with NS, the Oogvereniging, Koninklijke Visio, Bartiméus and PBTconsult— trialled NaviLens at Den Haag Centraal in June 2022 as an indoor navigation layer for blind and low-vision passengers, on top of the 90 km of tactile guide lines already rolled out across the Dutch network.
Den Haag CS
Pilot station · 'kopstation' with no braille at stairs
8–9 Jun 2022
Trial days with blind and low-vision people
90 km
Tactile guide lines installed by ProRail across the network
5
Trial partners: ProRail, Oogvereniging, Visio, Bartiméus, NS
The client
ProRail · Den Haag
Centraal
ProRail is the rail infrastructure manager of the Netherlands: tracks, stations, signalling, accessibility. Since 2017 it has rolled out 90 km of tactile guide lines across every station in the country and tactile maps in the ten largest —Amsterdam Centraal, Den Haag, Rotterdam and Utrecht among them.
Den Haag Centraal is one of its jewels: a head-end kopstation, with a large diamond-shaped canopy and an interchange with tram, bus, RandstadRail metro and NS. Because of its layout —with no intermediate stairs down to the platforms— it doesn't carry the typical braille signs found in other Dutch stations. The perfect scenario to trial digital indoor navigation.
For the trial, ProRail teamed up with the country's main blindness associations —Oogvereniging, Koninklijke Visio and Bartiméus— and operator NS, with PBTconsult as NaviLens's partner in the Netherlands preparing the pilot installation.
§ The challenge
Making the guide lines smart.
- 01
A 'kopstation' with no braille on stairs
Den Haag Centraal is a head-end terminus (kopstation): the platforms are reached without intermediate stairs, so the braille signs that exist at other Dutch stations were never installed. For a blind person, a key layer of orienting information is missing.
- 02
A huge and complex building
Retail hall, tram, bus, RandstadRail metro and intercity train accesses, ticket machines, Albert Heijn, Starbucks, illy stores… The challenge was to check whether a digital layer could help navigate that maze from the smartphone.
- 03
Aim: a single nationwide system for the whole OV
ProRail wanted to assess usability for the community and, above all, scalability: find a system robust enough to extend to every station in the Netherlands —«vergelijkbaar met de OV-chipkaart», in the project manager's words.
§ The solution
NaviLens stickers on the guide line.
PBTconsult installed colour-coded NaviLens stickers across the retail hall, accesses, platforms and intermodal areas —always anchored on the existing tactile guide line.
The NaviLens app recognises the codes from several metres away, computes distance and angle and guides by voice —"geruisloos", in PBT's words— to the destination chosen by the user: turnstile, ticket machine, tram, platform 1–12, toilet or exit.
In parallel, ProRail evaluated two other techniques (camera-based point-cloud and Bluetooth beacons) to then pick the most solid and scalable solution for the whole Dutch network.
§ On-station demo
The app, in real use on the guide line.
Footage at Den Haag Centraal: the smartphone recognises the NaviLens code stuck to the pavement and reads the destination and direction to follow aloud.
§ Timeline
From 90 km of guide lines to an indoor trial.
- 2017–2022
ProRail rolls out 90 km of guide lines across the network
Since 2017, ProRail has made every train station in the Netherlands accessible to visually impaired people: 90 km of tactile guide lines, braille signs at stairs and lifts and tactile maps in the ten largest stations (Amsterdam Centraal, Den Haag, Rotterdam, Utrecht…).
- 8–9 Jun 2022
NaviLens trial at Den Haag Centraal
PBTconsult, NaviLens's partner in the Netherlands, prepares the pilot install on top of the existing guide lines: colour-coded NaviLens stickers in the hall, accesses, platforms and intermodal transport areas. Blind and low-vision people walk real routes accompanied by ProRail teams.
- 9 Jun 2022
ProRail publishes the official release — three technologies compared
ProRail announces it is trialling three indoor navigation techniques with the Oogvereniging, Koninklijke Visio, Bartiméus and NS: one computer-vision based (point-cloud), one based on Bluetooth beacons, and NaviLens —colour-coded stickers the smartphone recognises and uses to compute distance and direction.
- 13 Jun 2022
Coverage by Kennisnetwerk Toegankelijkheid (CROW)
The CROW accessibility knowledge portal covers the Den Haag Centraal trial and frames it as a reference for future nationwide rollout decisions in the Dutch OV system.
- Post-trial
Evaluation: «zeer positief» feedback with NaviLens
PBTconsult reports that the NaviLens app was rated as very easy to install and use; once a destination is entered, users were guided «geruisloos» to the chosen point. ProRail evaluates the three systems with a generic solution for every station of the network in mind.
§ On the ground
The NaviLens trial, step by step.
§ What they said
What people said about the project.
“Den Haag Centraal is een groot en complex station waar oriëntatie een probleem is. Omdat het een 'kopstation' is en er geen trappen naar perrons leiden, zijn er geen braillebordjes aanwezig op dit station. Indoor navigatie kan daarom een mooie toevoeging zijn.”
“Het mooist zou zijn dat er één landelijk systeem is wat in het hele OV werkt. Vergelijkbaar met de OV-chipkaart.”
“De eerste feedback is zeer positief. De NaviLens-app is eenvoudig te installeren en de bediening is eenvoudig en intuïtief. Het invoeren van een gewenste bestemming leidde de proefpersonen geruisloos naar de gekozen bestemming.”
“ProRail test verschillende apps voor blinde en slechtziende reizigers, die het navigeren in stations makkelijker moeten maken. Dit doen we op Den Haag Centraal, in samenwerking met de Oogvereniging, Koninklijke Visio, Bartiméus en NS.”
§ Results
A digital layer on top of the guide line.
3
Compared systems — NaviLens among the candidates for nationwide rollout
Indoor
Navigation inside the station, complementing the physical guide lines
OV
Explicit aim: a single accessible system for the whole Dutch public transport
Sources consulted: ProRail (official release, 9 Jun 2022), PBTconsult (NaviLens NL partner), Bartiméus and Kennisnetwerk Toegankelijkheid (CROW). Bartiméus.
§ 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.
