The best worst train!?

traindesign

I am a industrial design student currently working on a new innovative concept for a subway train. so what i am interested in is feedback about things concerning the subway. any subway. tell me about the things you hate and love about your daily commuting or occasional trip underground. what do you consider to be the most important thing in a subway train. from passenger flow in the waggons, heated seating, lighting, airconditioning, windows, railing, interface, screens etc... anything!
I would really appreciate your answers (the more the better)

Victor

You need to go through each step of what a passenger other other party does in their interaction, break it into steps and see what are the strong points and weak points.

In the early days they worked out that platforms on tight curves meant a bigger gap between the train and the platform. While modern systems are designed with the least possible curve ona platform, legacy systems still have to deal with such problems. The DART dealt with it by adjusting the door positions.

Metrobest

traindesign wrote: »

I am a industrial design student currently working on a new innovative concept for a subway train. so what i am interested in is feedback about things concerning the subway. any subway. tell me about the things you hate and love about your daily commuting or occasional trip underground. what do you consider to be the most important thing in a subway train. from passenger flow in the waggons, heated seating, lighting, airconditioning, windows, railing, interface, screens etc... anything!
I would really appreciate your answers (the more the better)

I like sleek, modern metro trains like Bilbao and Singapore but I also like the legacy systems like in Paris and Berlin with their olde worlde charm. Bright colours, leather seats, clear line info including change possibilities above every door, electonic arrow signs illuminating which door to exit from, big windows with somewhere to rest one's arm, one 'social area' per carriage where a group of six or so can sit together, fold up seats near doors ..

I like it when the carraiges are all interlinked. (Paris line 1)
In-train TV screens display latest news and weather (Amsterdam)
Seats facing the windows to maximise standing room (Singapore)
Handrail 'splits' into 3 sub-sections so that you can maintain a distance from other passengers' hands (Paris line 1)
Spacious high-celilinged trains (Madrid)
Wood/steel features on the roof (new trains in Brussels)
Doors open automatically (most subways nowadays)
Strong, clear signage regarding who gets priorirty for seating (elderly etc)
Air con in train
Automated annoucements that simply state the name of the next station and any changes to other metro or important info regarding the station location
A door closing beep that is not too shrill

amtc

grids that make it easy for those in heels - recently got apair of v expensive shoes caught in agrid at castleknock station.

Run_to_da_hills

I loved the old pre 1980ies Madrid metro, It was noisy and riveted together, fresh air was forced in to the carriages through louvers on the sides of the train, the floors were wooden. It had had character like most of the old generation European undergrounds. Now all metros throughout the world are all the same, i.e. boring and bland. More than likely they are all made my the same manufacturers, i.e. Siemens, Alstom, Bombardier, or GE http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alstom_Metropolis_Cars