Partner(s): Stadler Rail, S-Bahn Berlin, Hasso Plattner Institute
Context: The Berlin S-Bahn passenger rail network moves over 1 million passengers a day through the German capital. These trains see heavy and frequent use in a city known its enthusiasm for night-life and street art. With such high passenger volumes the maintenance and cleaning costs for trains and stations are enormous, often exceeding €5 million per year.
Brief: Stadler Rail, the maker of Berlins’ new ’S-Bahn’ trains sought to develop new solutions to promote cleanliness, passenger security (in all forms), and ease of maintenance for their current and future fleets.
Tools: Empathy Mapping, Hardware Prototyping, Co-design, Feasibility Studies, Design Probing
Process Highlights: From the start, my team and I recognized the forward-facing necessities and longevity of this exciting assignment. The time horizon from inception, specification, research, development, sales, through to end of life of a train is all but unique to the mobility and logistics sectors. This period can easily span more than 50 years. As such, dependability, serviceability, and maintenance cost considerations are paramount.
Solution: After several iterations, the team and I developed a proof-of-concept smart seating solution together with a mobile app for train cleaning personnel. These solutions would work in tandem to reduce the amount of time that the train needs to spend in the service station by indicating more clearly where the personnel should devote their attention and by extension the cost of labour involved attributed to doing so.