GERMANY: DB Regio has unveiled IdeenzugCity, a full-scale mock up built to showcase ideas to improve the comfort, capacity and reliability of future suburban trains.
Developed at DB Regio’s own initiative and assembled by Hubl&Hubl, the mock-up incorporates technologies from more than 40 specialist suppliers.
Multiple concepts
Features include seats which can be extended or retracted at the push of a button. This could enable operators to increase capacity by 40% in the peaks by providing more standing space, and then increase the number of seats for provide more comfortable journeys for off-peak travellers. This could also be used to tailor the amount of space for bicycles and pushchairs to better suit demand.
High-density perch seats could provide a more comfortable alternative to standing at the peak times, while Multiflex seats could be switched between longitudinal and transverse arrangements according to need.
The design incorporates a City Working zone with desks for laptops and folding privacy screens with integrated displays. These could act as a second screen for a passenger’s device.
The front end has a destination display designed to offer 180º visibility, and exterior LED strips running the length of the trains which could be illuminated in a route’s map colour and used to show occupancy in real time.
Digital foils on windows and doors can provide passenger information and highlight cycle and pushchair spaces. They can be turned off between stations so passengers can see out.
Live trials
IdeenzugCity follows on from the IdeenzugRegio concept presented in 2018, which has now been updated with new ideas for low-touch modular toilets and for transporting bicycles.
The family zone concept from IdeenzugRegio is to be incorporated into the multipurpose areas on the Class 423 EMUs used on the München S-Bahn network, while exterior labelling will be used on Stuttgart S-Bahn trains. The working areas and digital systems including window displays are to be trialled on four Hamburg S-Bahn cars from October 2021, and a Südostbayernbahn double-deck coach will be used to gauge passenger feedback on the München – Mühldorf am Inn route from 2022.
