Famous trains such as the Orient Express, the Super Chief and the Flying Scotsman defined the luxury rail experience in the XNUMXth century. This could all be over soon.
A new all-glass “smart” train with surprising solutions promises to reinvent luxury train travel in a unique way, 21st century style.
Train: wrong to evaluate it only in terms of speed
"We tend to think of rail transport only in terms of speed, with the aim of getting many people from point A to point B in record time," he says. Thierry Gaugain. Thierry is the Parisian designer who designed the “G-Train”. A train with 14 carriages for one owner, or a few: a concept that brings the train closer to the private jet and the yacht.
And that is precisely the professional origin of Gaugain, who started as an industrial designer and ended up building yachts. Above all, he is known for having designed Venus, the 80-meter long boat Steve Jobs.
The G-Train, in the intentions of its creator, is "the ultimate way to say something new about travel, focusing on luxury and technology".
A rather radical view
Gaugain doesn't see his super train as an expensive toy (the estimated cost exceeds $ 350 million), but as a "new" way to explore the world.
One thing is certain: if this train is ever built, it will be a technical marvel. Almost 400 meters long, with a high-tech glass exterior capable of passing from transparency to opacity, up to total black.
The presence of a real “retractable terrace” can offer a totally new perspective to the view of the outside. At night, the train would be illuminated with a golden glow as it passed at a speed of around 160km per hour.
Shapeshifting wagons
The new generation glass works not only towards the outside, but reinvents the inside of the train with different settings and shades of light. It seems that Gaugain is really obsessed with light, this is also a “cruise” setting, when not a yacht.
That's not all: the owner and guests can transform the interior with seven types of scenarios, which pervade the whole environment (I would like to say "in the manner of Illuminarium".)
“It may be winter outside, but the owner can suddenly be surrounded by a beautiful summer day with flowers and lawns,” says Gaugain. “The train is essentially a stage that the owner can configure in many ways”.
It is not just the "little drawing" of a train
Of course, even the “pure” design concepts show us some important ideas, but this is not the case with the G-Train.
In fact, over the past three years, Gaugain has assembled a handsome team (from Swiss custom train builder Stadler to French glassmaker Saint-Gobain, passing British engineering firm Eskerley O'Callaghan) to make this concept real. For anyone with a big enough checkbook, of course.
“We had to ensure the feasibility of the project before moving forward,” says the French designer, adding that the train can travel across Europe and Asia, from Barcelona to Beijing, as well as North America.
“This train is meant for a madman, but in a good way,” he says. “It allows access to many more areas than a yacht and would open a new chapter in the life of owners. Really, it's the perfect way to travel ”.
