This network is, in the end, built not for steel and concrete but for human beings. So let us look at it through the eyes of an ordinary passenger.
One principle governs every part of this design: the system must be simple, smooth and dignified for those who work upon it and those who use it.
One ticket, from this side of the world to the other
A journey begins with the buying of a ticket, and here the network’s first promise appears: simplicity. A passenger should be able, with a few simple touches upon his telephone, to reserve a journey passing through several countries and perhaps several continents in the form of a single unified ticket. One destination, one ticket, one continuous journey. And with the same simplicity he should be able to send his baggage or take delivery of his consignment.
The station: a gateway where all roads meet
The stations of the global network are multi-modal centres of movement — the place where the railway is knotted together with the other means of transport. A passenger must be able to step down from a train and have immediate access to a bus, a metro, a taxi, a bicycle or his own car.
Within the station: comfort, access and dignity
Modern stations are generally of two storeys: the ground floor for the passenger’s needs of coming and going, and the upper floor for the platforms, the two joined by stairs, escalators, lifts and ramps.
On the service floor everything the passenger needs is provided: ticket offices, waiting halls, left luggage, lavatories, restaurant and shop, information centre, emergency medical services, cash machines, charging points, and a room for worship, with facilities for ablution and washing. And the internet and telecommunications must remain connected and uninterrupted throughout the whole network.
Two principles govern the design of a station. The first is access for all: lifts, ramps and special seating ensure that the elderly, the child, the expectant mother and the person of limited mobility all benefit with equal dignity. The second is ease: the control of temperature, sufficient seating, digital displays, and clear spoken announcements. And because it is a global network, information must be available in several languages.
And a third principle, which is easily forgotten. In counting what a traveller needs, we readily remember the body: food, water, cleanliness, rest, medicine, the moving of the limbs. But the human being is not body alone. The need of the soul for worship is as real as the need of the body for bread, and a station that provides for the one and forgets the other has understood the human being by halves. Therefore in every station a quiet room for worship is provided, together with a place for ablution and washing — open to every traveller, of whatever faith, and belonging to none in particular. Let no one be obliged to choose between continuing his journey and keeping faith with his God.
The design of the halls and the flow of passengers
A great station may move tens of thousands of passengers in a day; so the design of the halls is itself a science. The halls must be of such dimensions that no crush arises even at the busiest hours, and the flow of passengers is smooth and without snags. The designers attend even to the curving of corners, so that a passenger may always see the way ahead of him and feel at ease.
These halls must also be safe in emergency conditions, with clear exits and a capacity that makes a safe evacuation possible. And one point must not be forgotten: this network must be made ready for a world of ten billion people, not for the population of today.
The station as an ecosystem for its region
Perhaps the deepest role of a station is something beyond transport. A great station can become a new heart for its region. Beside the main stations there may be established medical centres, places of accommodation and hotels, commercial spaces and educational centres. In this way the very promise of bringing technology and treatment and opportunity close to people’s homes is fulfilled in these same stations.
The stations will offer high standards of the services current in the world, and will themselves become a model for the architects of new cities.
Art, culture and the flavour of each land
A station can be a mirror of the spirit of the land in which it stands. The architecture and the art of each station can reflect the culture and identity of its own region, so that a passenger entering each station feels that he has come into a new land.
This same diversity runs through the table as well: the food of each portion of the route may be based upon the produce of that same region. But alongside this diversity, respect for the passenger’s right of choice is observed: everyone must be able freely to choose what accords with his taste, his belief or his need.
The journey itself: a window upon the world
A journey may last from a few minutes to several days; so the trains must answer to differing needs: from ordinary carriages for short journeys, to carriages fitted with sleeping space and restaurant and working space for long intercontinental journeys.
The passenger can watch from the window as mountain and plain and city pass before him one by one. Travel by rail, unlike the compression of air travel, is itself part of the experience.
The intelligent design of trains for every kind of journey
Trains may be designed on two levels to provide greater capacity, and may be built in different classes and kinds: for short journeys of a few hours, for journeys of a day, and for journeys of several days.
A passenger travelling for several days should not be obliged to stop at every station along the way; so long-distance trains are so scheduled that their stops are fewer, like direct flights, while local trains serve the smaller stations. In the interior design, too, a prayer room and a place for ablution, a restaurant, and internet throughout the train are provided for.
Comfort in the details: temperature, sleep, quiet and smoothness of motion
True comfort lies hidden in fine details. One of these details is temperature.
A passenger travelling from a hot land to a cold one should not undergo a sudden change of temperature within the train. But the transition of temperature should not be wholly abolished either; it should be gentle and natural. The temperature of the lands along the route may vary from fifty degrees below zero to fifty degrees above; but the temperature within the train is so regulated that the passenger feels this difference only to the extent of five degrees above or below the agreeable temperature of the cabin — neither so that he freezes, nor so that he remains altogether unaware of the mood and air of the land outside.
Other details matter too: comfortable sleep on long journeys; the control of noise; and smoothness of motion, so that the passenger feels no sudden jolt at the changing of rails, at a halt in a station, or when two trains pass one another. Alongside these, continual cleanliness and hygiene and the constant readiness of emergency services ensure that the passenger is both safe and at ease.
These small details, taken together, make a journey that is pleasant and memorable.
A journey for everyone
What distinguishes the passenger’s experience is that same justice-centred spirit of the whole project. This journey has not been designed for a particular few; it is for everyone — from the man of business hurrying to a meeting, to the family coming out of its village for the first time.
The final aim is not merely the moving of people about; it is the opening of the door of the world to every human being who until yesterday had been left standing outside it, and the bringing of him to everything that civilisation has at its disposal. And upon these journeys, people of different classes should see one another and feel one another’s presence.
But all this ease will remain enduring only if the network is properly maintained. How can such a vast body be kept sound and standing? That is the subject of the final chapter of this part.