Urban Transport

Priestmanngoode unveils new high speed train concept for Britain

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Priestmanngoode's Mercury high speed train concept
The Mercury's standard cabins
Priestmanngoode's Mercury high speed train concept
The Mercury's luxury cabins
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In an effort to persuade the UK Government to move forward with the project as soon as possible, design studio, Pristmanngoode, has unveiled its high speed train concept, the Mercury. The company has previously worked with Chinese rolling stock manufacturer, Sifang, to design high speed trains for China and other parts of the world and now believes that a new high speed train is vital for the future of Britain. Perhaps taking London’s famous buses as an example, the Mercury is a double-decker train that incorporates a flexible, open plan design that Priestmanngoode says allows passengers to interact without compromising privacy.

To persuade people to travel by train the Mercury sees traditional commuter seats that are designed to incorporate in-transit entertainment systems placed alongside private booths intended for families, private parties or business meetings, echoing the nostalgia of compartmental train travel. The train would also include a children’s play area, while a luxury first class section with luxury lounge and bar would mirror the choice offered to air travelers.

The Mercury's luxury cabins

In an effort to create a design as immediately recognizable as Concorde, the exterior of the train would be 400m (1,312 ft) long with an extended nose section that would be one of the most extreme in the world. A feature the designers say is vitally important for the aerodynamics of a train which will travel at 225mph (362km/h).

The images of the interior and exterior of the train that Priestmanngoode has provided certainly look like it would appeal to passengers, but whether it’s enough to convince the UK Government to invest in the concept remains to be seen.

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9 comments
Michael Mantion
really what idiot is pushing this project. What a joke. Why not just buy a building, put tvs in it and save all the money of the train. trains are for cargo, cars or for people. Its not complicated. PRT would be a much better option.
Facebook User
if only! this is the government that sold off the nations railways and built more roads.
JPAR
The UK doesn\'t need any fancy high speed train - we\'re a small island !
What we need is a system that is efficient, reliable and has capacity to meet demand during peak demand.
mhenriday
On the contrary, a densely populated island like Great Britain would be a perfect locale for such a rail network. Take home the troops and spend the money saved on bringing the country\'s infrastructure into the 21st century instead !...
Henri
Facebook User
MiKe Mantion sounds like an American. In the UK boss, the trains are primarily for people, with freight and historic \'specials\' required to work around passenger services. This also appears to be true in most of western Europe, never been further than Turkey, so can\'t tell you about Eastern Europe. JPar, this could work to boost capacity, like the French TGV Duplex trains, and AVE services in Spain. twin decks greater capacity, think of it as an A-380 for the railways, with Easy Jet levels of seat spacing, and you can see the potential, or atleast the pound signs in Branson\'s head. Or Lord Adonis and the State controlled East Coast Mainline Company. On a sour note, twin deck services were targeted during the madrid train bombings, so its a case of 390 Pendolino, 222 Pioneer,Adalante, Class 43/intercity 125, Class 91/Intercity 225, or this duplex set up.
gadgetmind
Make them cheap, make them fast, make them punctual, make them comfortable and clean, make them easy to book, then people will use them. How often do people say, \"Well, I would have used the train, but I didn\'t care for the designer aesthetic?\"

BTW, regards cheap, I used a few middle distance trains in Spain last week (Valencia to Alicante) and was blown away by hard cheap they were even booking at the last minute. Three tickets came to less than 80 euro - what would this have cost in the UK? 150 quid each?

Ian
mommus
They fail to mention that Priestman Goode only designed the interiors of the Chinese high speed trains. They mostly do airline interiors, and have little experience with the fundementals of train design. Hence these bezerk ideas of having a train that looks like a trendy wine bar.
marshall91t
Wouldn\'t it be more cost effective to make the current public transport in the UK more reliable, I\'m sure I\'m not the only one who has gone to catch a train and after waiting about 20 minutes been told its cancelled. The sheer cost to take public transport is also rediculous, most of the time its cheaper, nicer and generaly more dependable to drive where you want to go...or cycle even....
NickHD
Great idea, but there are just a few minor niggles to overcome first; a) The UK railway track & points system is not suitable for high speed traffic. b) Since our dear Dr. Beeching did his destructive thing, the UK doesn\'t possess the original network of \"Feeder\" lines to reopen sensible commuter links - and the cost of reclaiming land originally used for commuter track but long since built over, would be prohibitive. c) No UK government has the will to do what is necessary to provide an ideal public transport system - too many \"Party contributors\" would oppose ideal track, points, station and siding locations for such a system to ever get off the ground. d) But there is hope - come to Hong Kong, travel on their public transport system, then you\'ll see why there are so few cars for so many people...