Amtrak Coach, Night Train
DATE - WINTER 2025
SCOPE - 10-WEEK TRANSPORTATION DESIGN PROJECT
ROLES - ART: Research, Sketching, Prototyping, CMF, and Storytelling
THOMAS: Creative Direction and Sketching BRYCE: CAD and Renders
PROMPT - Coach Class on the Amtrak Night Train
Restful, Comfortable, and Secure Train Travel
This redesign of the Amtrak Coach on the Night Train features herringbone, window-facing seats among other details to enhance feelings of safety and tranquility.
Traveling is impersonal and can feel unsafe
Especially in Coach class on an long Amtrak train ride
Reframed Prompt:
Comfortable, Secure, and Restful Amtrak Coach on the Night Train
Informed by an articulated brand guideline of Amtrak
Benchmarking
Delta Business Elite
+Personal environment
+Restful architecture
-No storage
Amtrak Coach
+Large, cushioned seats
+Generous legroom and aisle width
-Insecure luggage storage
-Exposed rest
Three Main Concepts
Separated Pair
+Good privacy level
-Low train integration -Tight entry
Privacy Wall
+Very private
-Low space efficiency -Paired layout
Individual Unit
+Secure bag storage
+High space efficiency +Integrated with train
Ideation
Refinement
Final Physical Model
Amtrak Coach, Night Train
The redesigned Coach is Secure, Comfortable, and Restful
The herringbone style seating provides easy entry private seating while still allowing dense population of individual units.
Upon Boarding…
-Seat numbers are easily identified
-Chair can be entered from either side of aisle
-Guiding lights invite rest
Entry
Surface contours guide passengers into their seat
Storage
Under-table storage big enough for a carry-on
Elements of Comfort
-Halo visually isolates for rest
-Walls are padded on touchpoints
-The gradient grounds the form
Lessons Learned
Many Minds are Better than One
Acting as a group, each teammate took on complementary roles and worked simultaneously.
Power of Physical Prototyping
Gained tremendous insights from physically testing human factors and validating concepts.
Technology Integration
Learned to support the design process with Vizcom and GravitySketch VR.
