Residents in Herefordshire are being invited to take part in a new immersive virtual reality experience being held in the city to help design railway stations of the future.

The pop-up ExploreStation initiative will be held next month at The Shell Store, Skylon Park, and aims to discover how to create great station experiences for passengers and communities.

The Shell Store event on May 16 and 17 is one of five virtual reality experiences being held across Britain. Ahead of the May events, designs have been published online, with the public being asked for their views.

Commissioned by Network Rail and delivered by Design Council in partnership with The Glass-House Community Led Design, Digital Urban and Commonplace, ExploreStation offers exciting ways for people to engage with new station design concepts from 7N Architects.

Through the reality pop-ups from Digital Urban, visitors will see a modular station materialising before their eyes.

Wearing headsets, they’ll get an opportunity to test out what if feels like to move around a new station with luggage or pull up in a train alongside the platform and new-style roof canopy in view of a distinctive clocktower.

They’ll hear train announcements and experience the new design right down to the detail — including how the design concept responds to local communities and the character of different places. The aim is for people to have fun while finding out more about the proposals, so they can offer their informed views.

Running from 10am to 6pm, the public can walk in or book a slot with full guided experience taking between 15 and 20 minutes. In line with Covid protocol, all touch points will be cleaned between visits.

To book, visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/explorestation-immersive-virtual-reality-hereford-shell-store-tickets-239932423337