Dear Sir Richard, Congratulations on receiving approval from the UK’s rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), to start running Virgin Trains services between London St Pancras and Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam. There is a lot to do between now and 1 October 2030, and I’m sure you can’t wait to get cracking....
✦ The floor
Discussion
Signed responses from readers of the wire.
No actionable change for clinical practice; this is an advocacy blog post encouraging a private company to adopt assistive listening technology.
Wider adoption of Auracast in public transport would meaningfully reduce listening barriers for hearing-aid users in real-world environments, making the case audiologists can use with patients about emerging assistive technology.
- 01Aurahear blog publishes open letter urging Virgin Trains to deploy Bluetooth Auracast on Channel Tunnel services.
- 02Virgin Trains is targeting a 2030 launch for its Channel Tunnel rail service, seen as a rare design-in opportunity.
- 03Auracast allows hearing aids and earbuds to receive broadcast audio directly via Bluetooth LE Audio.
- 04The letter frames early adoption as a competitive and accessibility-leadership opportunity for Virgin.
- 05No commitment or response from Virgin Trains is reported.
Auracast assistive listening technology can improve audio access for people with hearing loss on public transport.
opinionpartially supportedVirgin Trains plans to launch Channel Tunnel rail services in 2030.
press releaseunclear
