Tourism Western Australia: advert-body-2 by Taylor Herring

After the UK’s coldest spell in five years, commuters were transported to the sunny climate of Western Australia this week via the power of virtual reality. Chiltern Railways passengers from Oxford to London donned state-of-the-art VR headsets, allowing them to ‘travel as they travel’.

The unique experience was commissioned by Tourism Western Australia to celebrate the launch of the first ever nonstop flight between the UK and Australia. Commuters experienced the sensation of swimming with whale sharks, the world’s biggest fish, on Ningaloo Reef and cycling on pristine nature reserve Rottnest Island. There, they could follow in the footsteps of tennis legend Roger Federer by interacting with the quokkas, a cute mini-marsupial named the world’s happiest animal and famed for the #quokkaselfie.

As a trial, pending positive feedback from customers, the experience has the potential to be rolled out more widely as part of the on-board entertainment experience on train services throughout the UK.