A plan to renovate hard-seat cars on trains, designed by a sophomore from Chongqing, recently obtained a national patent, which may increase transportation capacity.  

Jian Xuelian, a sophomore at Chongqing Normal University, introduced her design concept Sunday. She was inspired by the fact that hard-seat train cars are often overcrowded, especially during the Spring Festival, when every inch of space is occupied – including the bathrooms – making it hard for passengers to move.

In her design, baggage racks on the ends of the cars are moved to the space above the aisle, and removable sleeping berths are above the seats.

"This can make passengers more comfortable by using free space. After the travel rush, train cars could be changed back to their original form," said Jian, adding that this could increase railway revenue.

Jian also thought that passengers should pay less for the sleeping berths in hard-seat cars than those in sleeper cars, but that the fare should be higher than hard seats.

A staffer of the Chengdu Railway Bureau surnamed Wan commented that free space above the aisle could be used somehow, but there would be less space for passengers to walk and stand in the aisle in the new design, although some passengers would have places to lie down. "It would be difficult for railway departments to set prices of the tickets, which needs further research," he said.