Beauty comes from within
When we first started thinking about creating entirely new interiors for our train carriages, we all agreed right from the outset that we wanted to stand out and dare to be a little different. Instead of finding an industrial designer, we wanted to collaborate with someone who could give us a whole new perspective. We also wanted to find a partner with a Swedish connection and with the same passion for the project as ourselves.
Björn Borg was the fashion label we chose. The project, which began in December 2005, had a very ambitious schedule - our plan was to have the first train completed by as early as June 1st 2006.
With the help of Björn Borg´s designers, led by Stella Valentino, we have created seven different trains with different designs in terms of colours and patterns. During the summer of 2006 the trains started to adorn our platforms and our rails. The project was part of our strategy to make Arlanda Express a natural part of Stockholm, and a way for us to reinforce the image of both our city and our country as an important centre for design.
This is the first time that our friends at Björn Borg have been involved in a project of this nature. They were faced with completely new challenges where they had to find design solutions that would suit significantly larger surfaces, and designs that would live over a much longer period of time than their clothes collections. Furthermore, what we required were patterns that matched, and patterns that were suitable for flooring, chairs and walls. We´ve also allowed tennis balls and lines from the tennis court to be included and to influence our choice of patterns and colours.
The goal was to find inspiring colour combinations and complement them with classic patterns that people will recognise. Colours that can cheer you up, but at the same time give you a pleasant sense of calm. By having different colours or patterns in each train we want to give our passengers more new experiences. Three wellknown patterns were chosen (Argyle, Paisley and Dogtooth) in three different colours (blue, green and red). These patterns is also in Björn Borg´s underwear, swimwear and clothes collections.
The refurbishment itself has been quite a challenge, as has minimising its impact on our service during the period when the carriages were being refurbished. EuroMaint has helped us with this part of the project.
We are enormously happy to be able to see the result of this exciting journey in design. We´d also like to take this opportunity to thank all of our partners who made this project possible and we hope that you, our passengers, are just as positive about our new carrages as we are.