High-speed rail: A more attractive exterior/interior design?

Hello everyone,

in order to improve ridership numbers on high speed rail systems, it seems that offering a lot of passenger amenities and increasing comfort is helpful, still at the same time to also offer an aesthetically pleasing experience.

While the only existing US high-speed rail trainsets (Acela Express) at least doesn't have benches, like some new commuter rail cars, but individual seats, and while that it obviously seems to be superior in comfort compared to US commuter rail systems, still it seems to many that they don't feature a very attractive design. While of course they were designed and built mostly still in the 1990s, and design concepts also advanced in the meantime, there is hope that future US high-speed rail trainsets (Acela, possibly California High-Speed Rail, Texas Central Railroad) will pay more attention to their respective trainsets' design.



Here is an impression of the existing US high-speed rail trainsets.





Acela Express exterior:


source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:An_Acela_Express_at_Union_Station_-_NewHaven.jpg



Acela Express interior:


source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acela_express




In comparison, the existing high-speed rail services Italo, ICE and TGV (in the next posts).

Italo (NTVs privately-operated high-speed rail in Italy) exterior:



source: http://source: http://max.gazzetta.it/extra/2012-04/max-ha-viaggiato-italo-ha-scoperto-che-molto-cool-pure-troppo-30643505093.shtml



Italo interior:



source: http://economia.nanopress.it/fotogallery/italo-foto-del-treno-ad-alta-velocita-ntv_4373_6.html



Italo office:


source: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/483081497500296322/




ICE exterior:


source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercity-Express



ICE interior:


source: http://www.design-report.de/suche/archiv/die_bahn_das_sind_wir_-32433744.html

TGV Reseau exterior (in Thalys livery):


source: http://www.bahnbilder.de/name/einzelbild/number/120999/kategorie/frankreich~tgv~thalys-pba-paris-bruxelles-amsterdamrame-4532-4540.html



TGV Reseau interior:


source: http://www.mbd-design.fr/lg_gb/transport/T102.php?cat=2&id=1



TGV Reseau interior ("L'espace Famille"):


source: http://been-seen.com/travel-blog/art-and-design/high-speed-high-fashion



TGV Reseau dining car ("Espace Bar"):



source: http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/magazine/tgv-christian-lacroix/espace-bar-tgv.shtml




The French railway company SNCF put out a competitive bid between different designers and design offices, and the team of Christian Lacroix won.

Germany's Deutsche Bahn has a whole department dedicated to design, responsible for the optical appearance of the company and its products in all ways (advertisements, TV ads, brochures, signs, the design of the service centers inside train stations etc), so of course this team is also involved in the design process for new trainsets, working directly together with the trainset manufacturers. Not only the logo is being paid attention to, but even a whole new font was created for Deutsche Bahn (that font won the German design price two years later). Karsten Henze, head of the department of CI/CD and creation, states that design is an important quality of differentiation. Because on more and more long-distance routes, different rail operators will compete. So the choice between competing rail operators then will also be the choice between different design concepts (and so far, f.e. with Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Company's Hamburg-Cologne services leasing whatever old rail cars are available, it seems like the concept seems to pay off for Deutsche Bahn).

Italo in Italy realized this from the start: created to compete with Trenitalia on routes already served by Trenitalia's Frecciarossa high-speed rail service, it made sure to appeal to potential riders as the Ferrari train, with its sleek red livery and the managing company, Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, being headed by Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the chairman of Ferrari. Jan Belezina of Gizmag.com writes: "The trains are well equipped to entice airline-goers to travel via rail instead. From tunnel-proof wireless internet, personal media centers and power supplies to entertainment cars offering immersive cinematic experiences. Even the economy class looks pretty impressive, with a comfortable leather seat on the route from the capital to Milan costing around €45 (US$60)." In addition the new trainsets were designed to have more passenger accessible width and height, so being spacier, to feature larger windows to be even brighter and to even more reduce vibration and noise, for an even more comfortable ride. So no matter if potential riders may come from other rail companies (more likely the case in Europe) or from other modes of transportation (air travel, cars...), it seems important to keep the customer's perspective in mind when introducing a new service.

That's what some other high-speed rail operators did. And what will Amtrak, California High-Speed Rail or Texas Central Railway do? Time will tell.

Amtrak may choose the Siemens ICE/Velaro trains for their Acela replacement since they have Siemens locomotives being delivered. Lower operating costs in the NEC.

In general the interior design of almost all of the US passenger trains (Amtrak, Commuter, Light Rail) is truly lacking. That being said with the new equipment & refurbishments Amtrak is doing, their fleet is starting to look more appealing. Take the new Viewliner 1 Diner, with the exception of the cheap table setting, the car was actually quite nice to be in, and quite attractive. I've seen some renderings of other new trains coming off the line in the states, which are beginning to take a look at their interiors seriously; the new BART trains spring to mind.

OeBB's Railjet was one of my favorite high speed trains to ride on when I was over in Europe, the interior was really quite nice & it has good potential to be used in the US as well (it's locomotive hauled the cars aren't married). Here is some nice images showing off the interiors:

http://czech-transport.com/index.php?id=5534

peter

If it is comfortable to the butt and the back, and has a tray table that I can set a laptop on and enough space that my knees are not up to and my gut not against same tray table, then however pretty things are is secondary. If these factors do not exist however pretty it is does not matter. Flashy items such as the angled seat tops will simply look dated and silly in another few years. We should be looking for designs that have staying power in appearance not flashiness.

Amtrak has on it website the plans for a New HSR they hope to get by 2030, But they do not think they can get the funding

beautifulplanet said:

....competitive...compete....competing...compete...

Click to expand...

I believe you are answering your own question. You mention competition fueling design. Who is Amtrak competing against in offering High Speed Rail service in the NEC against?

Long Train Runnin' said:

beautifulplanet said:

....competitive...compete....competing...compete...

Click to expand...

I believe you are answering your own question. You mention competition fueling design. Who is Amtrak competing against in offering High Speed Rail service in the NEC against?

Click to expand...

The airline shuttles and, arguably, Megabus, Greyhound, and friends. Also themselves after a fashion (i.e. Regionals vs. Acelas).

Edit: I do believe there's an argument to be made for having a private room space offering on some of the trains, even on a limited scale, not unlike the Merchants Limited had back in "the day". 2:30-3:00 is long enough to have a highly productive meeting en route.

Only way to compete with them is to lower costs of tickets.

People dont care about services anymore, its all about price. See Spirit Airline.

The fact that they still complain about services when they are paying lower fares irk me