Metro design revealed in response to COVID

Adaptable interiors for metro trains could help passenger numbers to bounce back in the post-Coronavirus era.

Design company tangerine, which has created interiors for Heathrow Express and Chinese train builder CRRC, has revealed its concept for metros that include an easily adaptable interior should there be future pandemics.

Branded ‘Metamorphosis’, the design features slidable screens that can be deployed to create smaller zones or ‘travel bubbles’.

Centrally located flexible seating would angle passengers away from each other, thus reducing the risk of infection still further while also increasing the passenger flow.

There would also be a localised air filtration system that constantly changes air, a touchless hand sanitation point in the vestibule, and a QR code placed at certain points as a Track and Trace system. The latter can be used to alter passengers if they have travelled and later fallen ill.

Traffic light-style illuminations around the doors, supported by passenger information screens both on the train and the platform, would also help distanced boarding and alighting, the company claims.

When there is a low health risk, the interiors can be readily adapted to cater for busier services.

“This design goes beyond quick fixes in response to COVID-19 that would be unsuitable once the risk of the virus subsides, and instead uses the opportunity to propose a better metro train that can increase capacity as well as minimise the future risk of disruption due to new novel viruses,” said tangerine CEO and founder Martin Darbyshire.