Low-stimulation shelter available beyond gateline until 2 October, developed with Autistica through workshops with neurodivergent people — second trial planned at London Transport Museum this autumn
Transport for London has introduced a quiet calm space at Ealing Broadway Underground station as part of a trial designed to support passengers who find busy transport environments overwhelming, with a second calm space planned for London Transport Museum later this autumn.
The initiative, developed in partnership with inclusive design company NOOK and neurodiversity research charity Autistica, aims to give travellers who need a moment to pause and recover a dedicated low-stimulation environment within the station — reducing the barrier that sensory overload can create for neurodivergent passengers and others who find crowded, noisy spaces difficult to manage.
What the Calm Space at Ealing Broadway Provides
The calm space at Ealing Broadway is located beyond the gateline and is available to passengers until Friday 2 October 2026.
The space has been designed specifically to reduce sensory stimulation compared to the surrounding station environment:
- Acoustic shelter designed to reduce surrounding noise levels
- Nature-inspired design elements and a calming colour palette chosen to create a more comfortable visual environment
- Space for mobility aids, buggies, and assistance animals — ensuring the space is usable by passengers with a wide range of access needs
- Secure fixed seating and level access for safety, accessibility, and ease of maintenance
The design emerged from research conducted by Autistica with neurodivergent people through workshops, focus groups, and surveys. The research found that access to a calm, low-stimulation space during a journey could help people feel more confident, more independent, and able to continue travelling when they might otherwise choose to stop or avoid travelling by public transport altogether.
Why This Matters: The Neurodivergent Travel Experience
For many neurodivergent Londoners — including those with autism, ADHD, anxiety disorders, sensory processing differences, or conditions such as PTSD — the London Underground environment presents specific challenges that neurotypical passengers may not notice or experience.
Busy platforms, unpredictable crowding, high noise levels from trains and announcements, bright lighting, and the sustained sensory demand of navigating a complex interchange can be genuinely overwhelming in ways that go beyond ordinary stress or discomfort. For some passengers, these experiences result in avoiding travel altogether, limiting independence, and restricting access to employment, education, healthcare, and social connection.
Dr Amanda Roestorf, Director of Research at Autistica, said that for many neurodivergent Londoners a calm space can be the difference between avoiding the Underground and travelling with confidence — describing such spaces as vital environments where people can pause, regulate, and continue their journey independently.
The trial is part of TfL’s broader Equity in Motion customer strategy, which commits to identifying and removing barriers to travel across the network for all passenger groups.
How the Trial Was Developed
The project brought together three organisations with different but complementary expertise.
Autistica is the UK’s leading autism research charity and conducted the community engagement work that underpinned the design. Rather than designing a calm space based on assumptions about what neurodivergent passengers need, Autistica worked directly with neurodivergent people through workshops, focus groups, and surveys to understand what features would be most useful and what barriers currently prevent or discourage travel.
NOOK is an inclusive design company specialising in pod and shelter environments for public and commercial spaces. NOOK’s founder David O’Coimin said the company was created to help make environments work better for more people, and described the TfL trial as an opportunity to demonstrate what becomes possible when inclusive design, lived experience, and innovation come together in one of the country’s most important public spaces.
TfL is providing the station space, coordinating feedback collection, and will use the trial findings to inform future decisions about inclusive design across the wider network. TfL is collecting passenger feedback through a dedicated survey and through standard customer contact channels during the trial period.
The Second Trial: London Transport Museum
A second calm space will be trialled at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden over an eight-week period this autumn. The museum setting provides a different context from an operational station — higher footfall from tourists and family visitors rather than daily commuters, and a different pattern of time pressure and journey purpose.
The two trial locations are deliberately different. Ealing Broadway is a busy west London interchange serving District and Central line passengers as well as Elizabeth line connections. The London Transport Museum attracts a visitor profile that includes many families and international tourists. Running trials in both settings will give TfL a broader evidence base about how calm spaces function across different passenger needs and contexts before making decisions about wider rollout.
NeuroPlaces Exhibition and Shoreditch Design Week
TfL will also participate in the NeuroPlaces Exhibition and Conference during Shoreditch Design Week, running from 15 to 17 September 2026. TfL will showcase its accessible travel tools, neuroinclusive design initiatives, and staff training programmes at the event, and will host a panel discussion exploring the role of neuroinclusive design across public transport networks.
The event provides an opportunity for TfL to position its accessible travel work within the broader urban design and accessibility conversation, connecting with architects, designers, planners, and disability advocates working on neuroinclusive public spaces across multiple sectors.
Wider TfL Accessibility Improvements
The calm space trials are taking place alongside a broader programme of accessibility improvements across the TfL network, several of which involve physical changes to station facilities.
In 2024, Mayor Sadiq Khan committed £3 million per year over five years to improve and expand accessible toilet facilities across the TfL network. Work under this programme includes:
Already completed:
- New accessible toilets at Morden Underground station
- New accessible toilets at Seven Sisters London Overground station
- New accessible toilets at White Hart Lane London Overground station
Coming soon:
- Colindale Underground station — New accessible toilet with a hoist, adult changing bench, and baby changing facility
- Northolt Underground station — Toilets to be upgraded to accessible, gender-neutral facilities as part of ongoing step-free access works
- Amersham Underground station — New accessible toilet with baby changing facilities
These physical improvements address a different but related set of accessibility barriers — the absence of suitable toilet facilities at many stations being a significant deterrent to travel for passengers with certain medical conditions, disabilities, and family circumstances.
How to Give Feedback on the Ealing Broadway Trial
TfL is actively collecting passenger responses to the Ealing Broadway calm space before the trial ends on 2 October 2026. Feedback can be submitted through:
- The dedicated customer survey available at the station and through TfL’s website
- TfL’s standard customer contact centre channels
The insights gathered will directly inform TfL’s recommendations for inclusive design across the network — making passenger responses during the trial period genuinely consequential for future decisions about whether and where calm spaces are introduced permanently.
