As Railway 200 celebrations continue across the country, London North Eastern Railway (LNER) have set up a ‘Train of the Future’ exhibition on the concourse at London King’s Cross, offering a glimpse of what trains will look like in 50 years.

Applied Futurist Tom Cheesewright had partnered up with LNER to create the first of its kind exhibition, which will be on display in the capital from July 30th to August 1st.

The exhibit highlights many possibilities, with information collected from over 2,000 passengers combined with current and predicted future advances in technology, to offer an insight into the possible styles and features of trains in the future.

Of the people surveyed, 66% highlighted speed as the main reason for travelling by train. Add to that more aerodynamic designs and quantum computing to make trains more streamlined, paired with the latest advances in AI testing, various designs could be tried and tested at a much quicker rate to enable trains to run faster and reduce journey times further within the next half century.

60% of the passengers surveyed said that they prefer constant entertainment while travelling. This could lead to the return of cinema-style coaches, or having coaches fitted with floor-to-ceiling windows similar to some trains on the continent. It could lead to onboard gaming coaches where passengers could play video games with other passengers or on their own during the journey.

Advances in 3D printing and stronger lightweight materials coming on the mainstream market can make all these things a reality when designing the railway coaches of the future.

Health and well-being were also rated high in the passenger surveys. The exhibit shows how the seats on trains of the future could adapt to the size and shape of each passenger. Branded as ‘Smart Seats’, these could have the potential to adapt to each person’s microenvironment, offering a more comfortable journey. There is even a suggestion and design for a standing seat on a treadmill for passengers to get their step count up instead of sitting on a train for the duration of their journey.

Other idealistic suggestions featured in the exhibit include on-board wellness and nap pods, pet zones, family fun zones and neurodivergent friendly areas. Suggestions for the future of onboard catering include self-balancing trays and odourless food.

Off the train, the exhibition explores the option of ticket barriers operating using a cross between e-tickets and facial recognition software.

While all these ideas might seem fanciful at this stage in time, there is always a possibility that some of these ideas could become reality or evolve into other plans that might be used on trains in the future.