Germany: The national operator has showcased a life-size mockup of a compartment, measuring two metres by 70 cm, at the Experience DB Mobility exhibition in Berlin.
The compartment with two seats facing each other and folding tables between them is shielded from the rest of the interior with frosted glass doors.
The presented mockup has been created to obtain feedback from different passenger types about the functionality of the compartment and variants for its location. In an interview with the Berliner Zeitung newspaper, a spokesperson for Deutsche Bahn said it had taken the operator more than a year to develop the mockup. It is so far unclear whether or not the innovative compartment would be introduced on in-service or forthcoming high-speed ICE trains.
However, one of the new concepts realised in the mockup is going to be implemented since summer, according to the operator. It is about a digital screen which will mark the seat as occupied until a particular station, allowing passengers to keep their seat for the duration of their journey.
