Red Planet Railway

For this challenge, I teamed up with two of my school friends Robin and Nathan. On the spot we were joined by Lien, an SNCB representative, to complete our team. The setting for the hackathon was, as the title already gives away, Mars. Humans finally found a way to colonise Mars and settled down in ten major cities. Between those cities, a transportation network has to be set up so people and cargo can travel. This scenario was painted to help hackers think of the current railway network in Belgium in a futuristic setting.

More information about the hackathon can be found on the Red Planet Railway website.

Challenge

There were five interesting challenges to pick from. The one that intrigued our team the most was "design the train station of the future". The other topics are listed below.

  • Design the intermodal transport network of the future
  • Design the train experience of the future
  • Design the passenger information service of the future
  • Design the ticketing system of the future

We had to define what a Martian train station should look and function like. Some things that immediately came to mind were how to improve upon the stations we know today and how to do so for everyone. The general idea was to attract more people to spend time at train stations.

Questioning the current model

Before letting our brains loose on generating ideas, we had to look at a few reasons people wouldn't want to go to a train station today. From our research, we could conclude that people experience stations as industrial, dirty and cheerless places. In short: a place to catch your train and where you wouldn't want to spend any extra time. In addition, stations are not designed to handle a large number of people at peak times.

Ideation

Circulation

The first problem we tackled was circulation. We envisioned the station as a large, open circle where commuters can enter at multiple entrances. Next to each platform hallway are two entrances. With this design, travellers don't have to wait on others that don't have the same destination. E.g. A traveller has to go to platform 12. In current stations, the traveller shares a hallway with travellers that have to go to other platforms. The big crowd at the beginning of the hallway only shrinks with each passed platform.

drawing of the circular hallway
drawing of the 12 underground platforms

How to attract people? Cosier

This has two key parts: keeping the people that are already at the station and attracting people that would otherwise not come to the station. We want to achieve this by putting relevant shops and services in the station. There could even be silent spaces where commuters can finish their work while waiting on the train.

drawing of the first floor with shops and services

Space efficiency

Our team also believes public buildings of the future should be space-efficient. The station would be layered so each layer has its own function. Ground-level is for commuting, the first floor is for shopping and services, the second floor is rented out to companies as offices and on the roof, there is a rooftop garden.

Drawing of the different layers in the station. From bottom to top: platforms, hub, commercial area, office space, rooftop garden.

Our train station of the future

The new station with our circular and open design will be more accessible because commuters are redirected efficiently. As you enter through one of the six entrances, you can easily find your way to the platforms via the stairways or elevators next to each entrance. Next to that, we want to improve the journey as a whole by including shops, services and office spaces. This can range from grocery takeout points, fitness centres to daycares. By doing this, we are hoping to eliminate the last mile.