Creating Britain’s new high-speed railway is not just about the speed and fancy tech, it’s about the experience where all passengers are made to feel comfortable and capable.
The challenge became clear: how do you design train interiors that work for everyone, from wheelchair users and parents with prams to neurodivergent passengers?
Together with West Coast Partnership Development our mission was to understand what passengers truly need from a new generation of trains.
Designing for every passenger
We designed an immersive real life test in a “Passenger Experience Lab”, with life sized train mock-ups complete with seats, wheelchair bays, accessible toilets, buggy and bike storage, and a shop. Real passengers experienced the mock-ups first-hand, explored every detail and shared what excited (and frustrated) them.
We didn’t just listen, we observed and uncovered ideas that blueprints couldn’t predict. This hands-on approach sparked deeper conversations and real-time insights, helping us spot hidden opportunities to fine-tune every element for comfort and accessibility.
Diversity at front of mind
Inclusivity wasn’t just a box to tick – it was central to the project design. We brought together participants from every walk of life: everyday travellers, wheelchair users, buggy users and neurodivergent passengers.
Our sessions were flexible and friendly, built with diversity in mind. Participants were welcome to bring a chaperone, move freely and express themselves openly, with wheelchair users assigned to smaller groups allowing for more space, and ultimately, more honesty.
The result? Genuine insights and client confidence in our bold human-first approach.
Client testimonial
This work has been critical to the development of the new high-speed trains. These trains are being built to be passenger first, and the only way to do that is to have clear and powerful research underpinning the design. Yonder invited us into the research process as partners and we were truly impressed with how they designed the research labs, and the sensitivity and rigour with which the research was conducted. Crucially, the research had a particular emphasis on understanding the needs of people with accessibility issues. The insights from the customer research have not only made sure that these trains will be inclusive, but that the programme is more cost-efficient by understanding what the passenger needs now and making necessary changes early in the design process.
Joost Noordewier
Customer Experience and Commercial Director at WCPD
Testing in motion
These train mock-ups had not been extensively tested before. So, we began with a research pilot, mapping journeys, ensuring accessibility and identifying barriers across every feature. We even brought in our clients as participants, giving them front-row seats to strengthen confidence in our method.
Before the main study, we shared a detailed briefing pack ensuring all participants were fully prepped and informed in advance. During sessions, the moderators combined observation with conversation to capture those human subtleties: expressions, gestures, tone, movement in the space.
Our hands-on in-person approach transformed observation into optimisation, helping us to shape a truly inclusive design.
Client testimonial
I have been closely involved with the development of the HS2 rolling stock since the project inception in 2021. This has by far has been one of the most insightful pieces of research we’ve commissioned. The team’s qualitative approach gave us far more than surface-level feedback, it revealed the lived experiences of our passengers in a way that numbers alone could not. Yonder distilled complex, sometimes conflicting perspectives into clear and actionable insights. The findings directly informed decisions about the design of our interiors, helping us prioritise accessibility, comfort, and usability to ensure that the HS2 rolling stock will deliver an industry-leading customer experience when it comes in to service in a few years’ time. This project has set a new benchmark for how we integrate qualitative insights into engineering and investment decisions, and we are already seeing the benefits across the project.
James Dawson
Senior Rolling Stock Engineer, HS2 Ltd
Insight into impact
By putting passengers at the centre of every decision, our findings met the brief. Wheelchair window views? Fixed. Missing sockets? Sorted. From stress-testing spaces to deep sensory analysis, real stories drove faster decisions and smarter investments in passenger-first train design.
Blending creativity and diversity with close client collaboration in a non-traditional setting, we delivered actionable recommendations that set a new standard as ‘best in class‘ high-speed train design designed for real people, not just briefs.
Sector
INFRASTRUCTURE (UTILITIES & TRANSPORT)
Geography
UK
What we did
Audience understanding
Business strategy
Design