(All images by Tangerine)
by Ron Bernthal
In 2016 CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co. Ltd., a division CRRC Corporation Ltd., the world’s largest rail car manufacturer, chose Tangerine as a strategic design partner after a worldwide search process. CRRC Corporation Limited is a Chinese state-owned and publicly traded railway car manufacturer. The aim was to raise the design quality of all their passenger cars on various railway operations, including high-speed trains, maglev trains, metros and light rail. Their lofty ambition was to win more riders among China’s domestic rail services, as well as obtaining contracts from international railways as well.
Now into its fifth year, Tangerine has designed over eighteen different train cars for CRRC, including some of China’s highest-profile projects (like the 2022 Winter Olympics train cars, while sing some of the most advanced rail car technologies in the world.
One of the high speed trains created by Tangerine in collaboration with CRRC Changchun Railway Vehicles Co Ltd and China Rail, travels at 217 MPH, and was carrying athletes, journalists and other VIPs from Beijing to the mountains in Zhangjiakou during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. The project has been under development for five years in both the UK and China, and was led at Tangerine by China Director, Weiwei He, and a team of European and Chinese designers from tangerine’s London Studio. For Tangerine, whose past work has included the world’s first lie-flat business-class seat for airlines, and Finnair’s revolutionary new “sofa in the sky,” the futuristic 2022 Bejing Winter Olympics train is among the results of a five year partnership with the rail company.
This strategic partnership between Tangerine and CRRC Changchun includes a mixture of interior passenger car design, exterior nose-cone and livery design. Tangerine has now completed designs for multiple train types including high-speed, maglev, sleeper, tourist, double-deck and metro varieties. A selection of completed projects are shown in this post, demonstrating how Tangerine and CRRC Changchun has fulfilled its ambitions of raising the quality of its design execution. .
CRRC Changchun is also contributing to greener alternatives for China’s ever growing demand for faster domestic rail transportation, and the design for a Double Decker Sleeper EMU train will offer affordable standard class sleeper train travel across China’s extensive high-speed rail network. This project will make an important contribution to China’s domestic infrastructure, which is the biggest in the world.
CRRC Changchun is also contributing to greener alternatives for China’s ever growing demand for faster domestic rail transportation, and the design for a Double Decker Sleeper EMU train will offer affordable standard class sleeper train travel across China’s extensive high-speed rail network. This project will make an important contribution to China’s domestic infrastructure, which is the biggest in the world.
Double-Decker Train Carriage
Passengers also benefit from wireless charging, personal screens and secure seat-side luggage stations. All Chinese passengers like to face forward so all seating rotates180 degrees at the end of the line in preparation for the return journey. The special Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics train – which welcomed VIPs, media and athletes onboard – features multiple seating options with color palettes inspired by Chinese heritage, including a staggered ‘business class’ with 18 lie-flat seats. Resembling a seat you might find onboard Etihad or Singapore Airlines, the private booth includes a comfortable leather recliner, large television screen, a folding timber-look tray table, as well as a seat-side storage compartment and reading lamp.
Speaking with Design Week, Weiwei He said that “the price of taking a high-speed train is comparatively cheaper than flying business class and offers a better experience than on narrow body airlines – more space, better seat comfort, bigger storage provision and a quieter, more private environment. Compared with a regional two- or three-hour flight, the high-speed train can offer a cheaper, greener and more convenient journey in about the same time.,”
