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“We wanted to make the forward-looking approach of the concept train a permanent part of the innovation and research department's culture,” says
Louis-Marie Cléon.
That led SNCF to create a
project laboratory for rail
transport comfort with
the National School of
Industrial Design (ENSCI).
“For practical reasons,
we defined a precise
framework – the new
version of the TGV Duplex
– but we kept the field of
research very broad.” |
Great chemistry
between an involved
SNCF and stimulated
students
At the programme’s start,
design students, experts
from SNCF and AREP,
and travel professionals
attended a one-week
seminar to give some hard
thought to abstract
concepts (time, flow…) and
concrete matters (toilets,
baggage…). The students
then made a trip on the
TGV to analyse the train as
a micro-society, before
getting down to work on
their individual projects.
There were three
intermediate validation
phases. “SNCF participated
in these to guide the work
when necessary”, says
ENSCI director Emmanuel
Fessy. “The company’s
close involvement meant
that requirements were
very high.”
A fresh vision of the
future train
Uninhibited by the
company’s culture or by
too many technical
constraints, the students
brought a totally fresh
vision to the subject and
came up with plenty of
new ideas. SNCF sees
the results as very positive.
Only a few ideas will
be incorporated in the
actual train, but they all
help to prepare the future.
The partnership will
continue, with design
students working on
other subjects.
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