“By partnering with communities in this way, we can focus on initiatives that truly make a difference.”

26 August 2026

Dhani Solanki, Accessibility Coordinator at Avanti West Coast, explains how the train operator is engaging with customers and communities to make journeys comfortable for everyone as it trials new sensory bags.

Travelling by rail can sometimes feel overwhelming, so we were keen to support a community project aimed at improving people’s experience.

Through its work with young people, Community Rail Lancashire (CRL) set out to create sensory bags shaped by lived experience and real travel needs to make rail journeys more comfortable.

As a Community Rail Partnership (CRP) – an organisation working to promote and enhance their local railway – CRL works closely with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) schools and groups, offering students opportunities to experience the rail network.

Teaming up with CRL to deliver a sensory bag project, which was developed following accessibility events and in collaboration with a SEND group from Bury College as part of a life skills class, gave them access to funding and trains to trial the idea in a live environment.

At Avanti West Coast we’re committed to making rail travel more accessible and supporting everyone to travel with confidence, ease and independence. This project supports that goal by providing items that help reduce anxiety and sensory overload.

With support from our Accessibility Team, who attended workshops with the SEND students, as well as our Community Rail Project Fund – a scheme that helps local CRPs deliver initiatives that engage communities with their railway - we created sensory bags that would genuinely help people when travelling.

The contents – including fidget toys, ear defenders, sunglasses and colouring materials – were chosen by SEND students from Bury College to assist neurodiverse customers or those with sensory needs and sensitives, while remaining quiet as well as suitable for shared environments.

Workshops allowed participants to share their experience of rail travel and influence the design and contents, creating a resource that improves comfort and confidence.

By partnering with communities in this way, we can focus on initiatives that truly make a difference. It strengthens our wider work with customers, communities, charities and local authorities to better understand how we can improve accessibility. Listening and engaging with people not only shapes our priorities but also inspires and drives new ideas and initiatives.

To mark Community Rail Week – an annual campaign that celebrates the work to bring people together, support local places and make a real difference – and this year’s theme ‘Journeys for All’, we launched the next phase of the project – making the bags available at stations across the West Coast Main Line.

This milestone allows us to gather feedback from those who use the bags, supporting our ongoing commitment to improve accessibility.  

Images (top to bottom): Main image: Dhani Solanki (far right) attends life skills class with SEND students at Bury College; Dhani takes part in workshop to develop Sensory Bags with SEND students at Bury College; Contents of Sensory Bags, which have been created by Avanti West Coast and Community Rail Lancashire with support from Bury College students.