EC 24/7

SERVICE & STRATEGY

As a green alternative to air travel, the EC 24/7 is a combined day and night train designed to offer a wide range of passengers (a.) comfort through optional privacy (b.) affordability through cost-efficient operability.

The service connects Copenhagen with major European cities, reachable within a ten hour timeframe. With one daytime and one nighttime departure per day, the operation is continuous, reducing downtime and increasing travel hours. 

Adhering to principles of universal design, the service reduces common cabin offerings to a single ‘on-size-fits-all’ solution, while maintaining appeal among a broad audience. This approach makes for an economic and highly adaptable train set.

TRAIN SET

The train set consists of up to fifteen coaches with a total capacity of up to three hundred and sixty passengers and is programmed to balance the private and social needs of passengers on long distance journeys.

During day departures, passengers are seated in a layout that provides personal space for recreational or productivity related tasks. Passengers seeking social interaction are invited to the cafe. Between departures, the train converts for night journeys, where individual sleeping units unfold to create private spheres with optimal conditions for uninterrupted sleep. 

LAYOUT

Numerous iterations on different layouts have led to a radically different, yet completely logical solution. Compared to what is commonly seen on long distance trains, the open cabins are configured in a longitudinal layout, where passengers face sideways with direct access to windows framing the landscape.

This enables the formation of two aisles instead of a single-central aisle. With aisles on each side of the carriage, passengers are not facing each other, enhancing a sense of privacy.

Additionally, all passengers gain equal and direct access to commodities such as windows and aisles, the latter enabling a layout in which passengers never have to stand up for each other when one decides to get out of the seat.

CABIN

The layout is largely determined by the cabin. On a conceptual level, the convertible cabins is an evolution of the standardized six-person couchette. With the aim of increasing privacy, bunkbeds that commonly face each other are flipped one hundred and eighty degrees to form a back-to-back formation. This move situates passengers facing a window instead of fellow passengers, enhancing privacy.

During day departures, three spacious seats allow passengers to create a sphere in which they can relax, converse with neighbouring travellers or carry out work-related tasks. The conversion from day to night service is performed in between departures. On night journeys, bunk beds with integrated curtains form three solo compartments. Optionally, two solo compartments can be connected to form an alcove-like two-person unit. 

VISUALS

Contextual visualisations of the EC 24/7 in use

VR AND 360° PANORAMA

Scan the QR-codes with your smartphone and come aboard the EC 24/7.

During the process different digital tools was used to present space and the scale of things.

SCALE MODEL (1TO20)

One side of the model shows the train during day departure, the other during night departure.