Famous trains such as the Orient Express, Super Chief and Flying Scotsman defined the luxury rail experience in the 20th century. This could all end soon.
A new all-glass “smart” train with surprising solutions promises to reinvent luxury train travel in a unique way, the 21st century way.
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 moving 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 just 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 latest way to say something new about travel, focusing on luxury and technology".
A rather radical view
Gaugain does not see his super train as an expensive toy (the estimated cost exceeds 350 million dollars), 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 in total, with a high-tech glass exterior capable of going 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 by a golden glow as it passed at a speed of about 160km per hour.
Shapeshifting wagons
The new generation glass works not only towards the outside, but reinvents the interior of the train with different settings and shades of light. It seems that Gaugain is really obsessed with light, this too is a "cruise" approach, if not a yacht one.
That's not all: the owner and guests can transform the interior with seven types of scenarios, which pervade the entire environment (I would 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's not just a "drawing" of a train
Of course, even “pure” design concepts show us important insights, but this is not the case with the G-Train.
In the last three years, in fact, Gaugain has put together quite a team (from the Swiss custom train manufacturer Stadler to the French glass manufacturer Saint-Gobain, passing through British engineering company 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 owners' lives. Truly, it's the perfect way to travel."
