Seibu Railway is building a new line of quick commuter trains that blend into the landscape

If there’s anyone dreaming about the hi-tech transportation of the future, it’s Japan. The country has already mastered the levitating bullet train, and now Japanese train-travel company, Seibu Railway, is planning a major design leap just in time for its 100^th anniversary. What does it have in mind? A new line of speedy commuter trains that blend into the landscape. 

Image source: Seibu Group.

Designed by architect Kazuyo Sejima from the Japanese firm SANAA, the train won’t be completely invisible, but super-reflective. Basically, it blends into its surroundings by reflecting them off its mirrored surfaces. Commuters will be able to ride the train, known as the Red Arrow, on a limited number of routes in Japan starting in 2018.

According to Sejima, the train has been designed to be “soft,” with the interior having the feeling of a living room. Currently the Seibu Group operates 180 km of railway networks in the region around Tokyo, and its carriages feature boldly-colored stripes that make them stand out from their surroundings.

Sejima’s website suggests she favors minimalism in design, which is true of the new Seibu train concept.

“The limited express travels in a variety of different sceneries, from the mountains of Chichibu to the middle of Tokyo, and I thought it would be good if the train could gently co-exist with this variety of scenery,” Fast Company Design quotes Sejima from Seibu’s official press release. “I also would like it to be a limited express where large numbers of people can all relax in comfort, in their own way, like a living room, so that they think to themselves ‘I look forward to riding that train again,’” she said.

Currently the speed, power, and environmental impact of the invisible train has not yet been discussed, but the program is projected to begin with seven eight-car trains in Japan’s 2018 fiscal year.

 

Source: Telegraph