Softer upholstery, more room in the shoulder area: Deutsche Bahn is building a new generation of seats in its high-speed trains from March 2020 onwards. All in all, by the end of 2021, almost 60,000 of the more comfortable seats in ICE 3 and ICE 4 trains, according to railway information, will be installed.
In their development, the estimates of more than 5800 railway customers have flowed, which have tested the seats, as the Deutsche Bahn in Berlin announced. Among other things, the furniture should be characterized by softer back cushions and softer armrests and offer more freedom of movement for the head and shoulders.
In the past year, complaints about seat quality in the new ICE generation had accumulated at the railways. The chairs in the ICE 4 were uncomfortable, especially on longer trips over four hours, so the feedback from the passengers. Some of the seats made back pain. The train had responded with advanced seat variants and involved their customers in the tests.
In the future, Deutsche Bahn also intends to engage more in dialogue with them, the customers - in analogy and digitally. The company has developed a new concept for its DB Travel Centers with separate self-service areas and customer-intensive conversations. In addition, the train announced as a new service so-called chatbots, which should answer customer questions on bahn.de around the clock.
Service robot at the station and on the mobile phone
An innovation awaits users of the train app, which should be equipped with speech recognition in the future. "We are currently developing a digital assistant, with which I can communicate with my smartphone, for example, as with Siri," said Innovation Manager Sabina Jeschke in the previous week. With Siri the speech recognition software of the mobile phone manufacturer Apple is meant.
Lisa Ducret / DPA
Test robot "Semmi" in the train journey of Berlin Central Station
By 2021, the artificial intelligence-based assistance system will be available on the website, the train app and at train stations. Even now, the technology is proficient in several languages. In the future, customers should be able to order their tickets by voice. And even the unloved paper form for the fare reimbursement should be superfluous.
The railway had recently tested a prototype of the system for several weeks at Berlin Central Station. Customers were able to ask the robot head Semmi about their connections and delays. After initial difficulties due to a defective WLAN connection at the start, the group drew a positive conclusion at the end of the test phase.
As part of the concept of the strong rail, there are further advances in terms of digitization: The long-distance traffic is to be equipped with the European train control system ETCS, which allows a tighter timing of trains. The vehicles get more sensors to provide more detailed information, such as when which component needs to be replaced. The warning system for delays and timetable changes should also become more reliable in this way.
