The impact of increased smart phone use in trains

In designing interiors of cars, trains and airplanes it is important to have an idea what activities people perform. Therefore, activities of 354 1st and 2nd class train passengers were observed. Previous research has shown that train passengers spend their time mostly on reading, relaxing (i.e., staring or sleeping), conversing and working on laptop. The increased use of smart phone past years may affect train passengers’ pass time. However, data are not available to affirm this. To validate this assumption, recordings were made of activities in trains in 2017 and 2018. Results show that 48% of the passengers use their smart phone in the train. This implies the need for new guidelines for train interior design and other vehicle interior design.