Photo: BMW
Kuala Lumpur along with its neighboring metropolitan area is home to around 4 million people. Traffic is therefore a nightmare and the easiest way of getting around is taking the metro train.
The authorities therefore decided to offer new train cars for the people that use them on a daily basis and needed a new design for them, one that placed the Asian country in the 21st century. What better design team to get than the BMW subsidiary DesignworksUSA?
The New York based company did some extraordinary projects in the past, including imagining exploration machines of the future and has plenty of experience in creating unique, futuristic transportation devices, no matter if we’re talking cars, buses or even trains.
In creating the train cars, the designers looked at the multicultural environment of the area and the landscapes it encompasses. Named ‘Guiding Light’, the design of the Metro Inspiro takes a bow to the rich heritage of Kuala Lumpur and makes a strong statement at the same time.
“The exterior design is a bold statement of dynamism and strength. It symbolizes self confidence, technological leadership, progress and safety,” says Laurenz Schaffer, President of BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
Up front, the lighting concept has a strong graphical character, reminding of the facetted architecture of the capital city while the interior is a combination of past and future elements with a predominant lively blue color scheme. Furthermore, using LED lights wherever was possible (including under the seats for a more spacious feeling) the designers made sure that the power consumption was kept to a minimum.
The trains are also driverless and a total of 58 units will be built and put in service over the next months, allowing a frequency of one train every 3.5 minutes during peak hours. Each four-car train will accommodate up to 1,200 passengers also offering support for disable people.
With a 30-year life-cycle and being 95 percent recyclable, the Kuala Lumpur trains are an ecological statement, showing that if there’s a will, there’s a way of keeping the planet clean also due to the low power consumption that can be attained from renewable sources.
The New York based company did some extraordinary projects in the past, including imagining exploration machines of the future and has plenty of experience in creating unique, futuristic transportation devices, no matter if we’re talking cars, buses or even trains.
In creating the train cars, the designers looked at the multicultural environment of the area and the landscapes it encompasses. Named ‘Guiding Light’, the design of the Metro Inspiro takes a bow to the rich heritage of Kuala Lumpur and makes a strong statement at the same time.
“The exterior design is a bold statement of dynamism and strength. It symbolizes self confidence, technological leadership, progress and safety,” says Laurenz Schaffer, President of BMW Group DesignworksUSA.
Up front, the lighting concept has a strong graphical character, reminding of the facetted architecture of the capital city while the interior is a combination of past and future elements with a predominant lively blue color scheme. Furthermore, using LED lights wherever was possible (including under the seats for a more spacious feeling) the designers made sure that the power consumption was kept to a minimum.
The trains are also driverless and a total of 58 units will be built and put in service over the next months, allowing a frequency of one train every 3.5 minutes during peak hours. Each four-car train will accommodate up to 1,200 passengers also offering support for disable people.
With a 30-year life-cycle and being 95 percent recyclable, the Kuala Lumpur trains are an ecological statement, showing that if there’s a will, there’s a way of keeping the planet clean also due to the low power consumption that can be attained from renewable sources.
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