By the growing interest of people to travel by train the pressure is becoming greater as how to increase capacity in our trains, while simultaneously better meeting customer needs and providing more comfort. Comfort and capacity have thus far been trade-offs in terms of conventional train interiors – achieving both simultaneously requires innovation.
To answer this challenge NS initiated a new creative and challenging approach by inviting external professionals for developing a new train interior. In collaboration with Mecanoo (architecture) and Gispen (sustainable interior designer), two renowned firms from outside the transport sector that have a wealth of experience in creating attractive interior design environments for homes, offices, libraries and more. NS can capitalise on the insights and experiences of these specialists to develop a new train interior. This approach in combination with research under rail passengers in The Netherlands gave us a framework for developing an interior which fits the needs of our passengers best.
The design process resulted is a modular system of varying seat configurations. In addition to the traditional vis-à-vis and coach seats, we also developed bench seats, high seats and bar seats, angled so that passengers can look straight out the windows. Standing in the train is made more comfortable by adding a differentiated set of perch seats with clever support mechanisms and various amenities, including USB ports for charging mobile devices.
In this modular system, a fixed set of interior modules creates different zones within the train, where passengers can work, relax or socialise, depending on their present needs. Moreover, the modules were developed in a manner that makes the best possible use of the available space, so that during peak hours more people can find a satisfactory place to sit or stand, while during off-peak hours passengers experience more comfort than in traditional trains. This presentation will show how the design process developed, leading to concrete results for the interior. Using evidence-based design, we shared the preliminary results in several iterations with our passengers as a means of challenging each design stage. Moreover, we deployed various research methods to check whether we were actually delivering an interior that met our passengers’ needs. The final step in this process was to ascertain which developed modules adhere to governmental (safety) standards and if industry could deliver such modules at an acceptable cost. This resulted in a new train interior called the Dubbel Decker Next Generation and was show to the press on 6th of March 2025. The train will be built by Caf and will be in operation in The Netherland in 2029.
Mark van Hagen, Principal Consultant, NS (Netherlands Railways)
