The “Multisenso Rail” initiative wins the “Prix CAP 48 de l’Entreprise Citoyenne 2023” @Trainworld

A visit to a museum is not necessarily easy for everyone. That’s why at Train World, the SNCB’s museum, we work every day to continually improve our visitors’ experience and to ensure that everyone is included. By reducing or removing as many physical and mental barriers as possible, Train World aims to offer everyone an unforgettable experience. In this way, we aim to appeal to visitors who see our collection in a different light or who experience a visit to the museum in a different way.

We offer a number of initiatives to promote inclusion, including the “Multisenso Rail” activity, which makes Train World one of the pioneers in Belgium.

Multisenso Rail

“Multisenso Rail” is an original tour offer, originally developed for people with intellectual disabilities.

The tour offers a multi-sensory experience of a steam train journey. Using a small locomotive (a repurposed trolley), a trained guide takes people with disabilities on a guided tour adapted to their needs, through the magnificent setting of Train World, with stories about the Belgian Railways.

The little locomotive contains railwaymen’s clothes and lots of objects to touch. To complete the experience, it makes sounds and smells… Participants can even operate the stop lights and let off steam from the locomotive!

This offer has now been extended and is open to everyone.

To develop this project, Train World has sought lasting partnerships with motivated care centres. We worked with HAMA and the De Ark day centre.

Cap 48 Award

The “Multisenso Rail” initiative enabled Train World to win the “Prix CAP 48 de l’Entreprise Citoyenne 2023” in the “Accessibility” category on 6 April.

The prize is awarded to companies in the public or private sector that pursue a dynamic and original policy committed to the integration of people with disabilities in the fields of employment, accessibility, funding for concrete initiatives or innovation.

The “Accessibility” category rewards companies’ initiatives to meet the needs of people with disabilities (employees or customers) with adapted and accessible spaces and services.

Minister Karine Lalieux visits Train World

Minister Karine Lalieux, responsible for Social Integration and People with Disabilities, visited Train World on Tuesday 30 May 2023. The Minister was keen to thank the Train World museum and the SNCB for their efforts to ensure optimum inclusiveness for all visitors.

Accompanied on her visit by Frédéric, Ardian and Kacper, three people with disabilities from the HAMA reception centre, the Minister was able to experience a “Multisenso Rail” visit with them. They were able to share their experiences and talk about what it was like to take the tour.

“Access to culture and leisure is one of the cornerstones of an effective and successful inclusion policy for people with disabilities in our society. As a partner of the EDC card, the Train World museum is playing a full and dynamic part in the collective construction of a society where everyone can find their place and fulfil their potential. Discovering this museum alongside people with disabilities, during a “Multisenso Rail” visit specially developed to be accessible to all, was for me an experience in a class of its own, all at once educational, recreational and above all deeply human.” Karine Lalieux

A job that’s never finished

There are no limits to the creation of an actively inclusive museum. That’s why Train World is continuing to study possible adaptations to make the train museum even more inclusive. Further training for volunteers and museum staff is essential in this respect. In addition, the museum is committed to strengthening its offer according to the principle of “universal design”. This concept involves developing a product that is adapted to a target group, but which can then be used by a wide variety of users.

For more information on all the current initiatives developed by Train World, click here: An inclusive museum – Train World.