italian design firm pininfarina has designed a swiss train with floor-to-ceiling windows for a line in the swiss alps. the goldenpass express will connect three of switzerland’s main tourist destinations, montreux, gstaad, and interlaken, while making the most of the surrounding vistas. italian design firm pininfarina is best known for creating legendary ferraris and maseratis, as well as most recently the electric battista hypercar.

 

the goldenpass will go into operation in december 2020, carrying 1.5 million tourists a year for the mob (montreux oberland bernese) railway company. the panoramic windows feature tech that minimizes reflection on photos taken by passengers. the team at pininfarina engraved a near-invisible pattern to reduce reflections and also set up the lighting to reduce reflections on the windows.

pininfarina designs 'goldenpass express' swiss train with panoramic windows

images courtesy of pininfarina

 

 

‘having to deal with new safety standards has been a stimulus to our creativity, rather than a limitation,’ explains alfredo palma, pininfarina’s design project manager. ‘in every project, whether it is automotive, transportation or architecture, our goal is to create beautiful objects while overcoming technical or regulatory obstacles. with the mob we have created a train that offers an immersive travel experience, in total symbiosis with the beauty of the surrounding nature.’

 

pininfarina proposal’s makes it possible to maintain a large window that provides travellers with a frontal view of great impact. other clever engineering includes a variable gauge system, meaning passengers will no longer have to change trains when the track gauge goes from 1m to 1.43m at zweisimmen.

pininfarina designs 'goldenpass express' swiss train with panoramic windows

 

 

pininfarina has extensive experience in the railway sector, having designed the interiors and exteriors of high-speed trains in italy – the famous etr 500, the first italian project for a high- speed train, which appeared in 1985 – and in spain. they have also designed carriages for the swiss, danish and norwegian railways, the light rail system in service in lille, and trams currently in operation in various cities in italy, greece, sweden and turkey.

 

most recently, the company designed carriages for eurostar. it designed the exterior livery and the interior of the new, cutting edge train joining the uk to mainland europe. the goldenpass express isn’t the first project created for MOB either. in 1993 pininfarina designed the cristal panoramic express, one of the swiss company’s most successful trains and one of the most photographed by tourists.

 

project info

 

company: pininfarina

model: goldenpass express