Great Western Coffee Shop

Hi Everyone,

I have newly joined the forum and thought I would introduce myself. I am the project assistant for Window Seater and we are developing an app where you can listen to audio stories about the train lines and communities. I am always happy to hear people's thoughts and frustrations about rail travel to help us design something better so please feel free to get in touch!

Aside from that I live close to Evesham so get to enjoy the gorgeous Cotswolds countryside.

Hi Rachel & welcome!

One of my frustrations is hearing the hiss (or louder) from mobiles where people listen/watch things on their mobiles without using ear/headphones. Can you add a ‘listen with headphones on’ to the intos on your app please?

Hi, Rachel, and welcome to the forum. Why not post a link up to your web site too ... I know there are a number of interesting journeys there already.

As an aside, I was chatting with Rachel over Zoom yesterday and I mentioned that I have (on a couple of occasions) given a "line commentary" for groups.   Has anyone else done this?  How do you feel it works?

Rachel - for thoughts and frustrations, can I suggest you lurk for a few days and see what people are posting about - a lot of what you're asking for is already written here in public, yours for the reading  ;D

Hello from a fellow Vale of Evesham inhabitant and sometimes user of either Evesham or Honeybourne station

An acquaintance did a printed one a few years back: https://www.bargeluciole.com/john-liley#brochure

(I did once get an enjoyable commentary to the WCML from Carlisle to Glasgow courtesy of a Scottish friend... we were both in the same IRC channel and he knew the line well enough to tell me what I'd be seeing next!)

We can definitely do this! All these suggestions are great because we want to make it a good experience for everyone  ;D

Yes of course! Here is a link to the website for anyone who would like to check it out: https://windowseater.com/

We have already done some lines in England and Wales so if anyone is planning on taking these journeys for holidays this summer (or what's left of it) then please do have a listen.

I'm definitely happy to lurk for a little while and see what frustrations people are facing. As you said there are many posts so I'm sure I will find out lots of useful stuff!

This is great, thank you for sharing!

Hi everyone,

My name is Richard and I work with Rachel at Window Seater. Or rather, I should say worked as Rachel has recently moved on for pastures new!

I just wanted to say that we have now launched the app that Rachel mentioned, Window Seater, containing 10x audio guides for rail travellers. And we would love to share it with the community here, and to get your ideas for improvements.

(@grahame suggested I add a new post on the forum with the news of the app, as well as add a reply here to Rachel's hello, to let you know the latest.)

We would like to invite everyone at the forum to get involved, to test the app and let us know your thoughts. This is a great opportunity to help raise awareness of stories around rail, and to help bring new visitors into local communities. Your input would be hugely valuable!

The free app can be downloaded for either iPhone, from the App Store here: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/window-seater/id1400789838 (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/window-seater/id1400789838)

or for Android phones from the Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.windowseater.application (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.windowseater.application)

To make the most of the app experience, we recommend you enjoy it on a train, but everyone can also listen to a guide or the stories within each guide manually at home, by clicking the play icons or the "Play Story" buttons.

There is a feedback form too, and we would love some ideas for improvements from the community. It only takes a minute to complete: https://forms.gle/YMH1NPBW5rJUparP8 (https://forms.gle/YMH1NPBW5rJUparP8)

Thank you so much for your time and we'd love to hear your thoughts!

All the best,
Richard @ Window Seater

Hi, Richard - thanks for that into and the post - a new thread at http://www.passenger.chat/26143 where it comes up with a rather more descriptive title that "just saying Hi" - though happy to say "Hi" to you hear.   I am going tl lock this thread so that any follow ups go onto the other one - that way it keeps it all neat and any discussions all together.

Welcome Rachel! I'll try to take a look at the app very soon.