Train And Ferry Passengers Discover The World Outside Their Windows

Trains and ferries meet at Lymington Pier

Travellers taking the train through the New Forest to Lymington and onwards to the Isle of Wight with Wightlink’s ferries can now discover more about the countryside and coastline through an innovative audio guide delivered by the smartphone App – Window Seater.

Wightlink has teamed up with the New Forest Community Rail Partnership and Cross Country Trains to provide some of the stories from the route between Ashurst and Brockenhurst to Sway, Lymington and the sailing to Yarmouth.

The guide automatically plays as passengers reach places of interest.

The Window Seater App also features the voices of people who live and work in the New Forest and across the Solent including historians, writers, New Forest commoners as well as one of Wightlink’s Captains.

Captain Phil Husband on board a Wightlink ferry

Topics include tales of headless coachmen and witches, Brockenhurst’s role in wartime, the poetry of Tennyson, and the coastal bird life.

“The Solent has a wealth of wildlife,” says Wightlink Captain Phil Husband. “White-tailed eagles now live in the Lymington River, you can’t miss them as they’re enormous.

"There are plenty of migrating birds in winter and Wightlink crews have also spotted seals, dolphins and otters.”

Wightlink’s Partnerships Marketing Manager, Sam Woodman, says:

“We were thrilled to support Window Seater to give customers who travel by rail to catch our ferries a real insight into what they can see along the way.

"We are impressed how the App uses technology to tell stories from local experts.”

Bobby Lock from the New Forest Community Rail Partnership adds: “Window Seater New Forest and the Solent offers a great narrative of clips from history to folklore.

This has been a lovely project to work on, in partnership with funder CrossCountry Trains, Wightlink and our volunteers.”

Marcus Allender, Window Seater Managing Director, says:

“Our partners have embraced innovation to bring the extraordinary living history of the New Forest and Solent crossing to life.

"I’ve no doubt it will entertain and educate passengers young and old.”