21st Europe, a new design-led think tank founded by former SPACE10 creative director Kaave Pour focused on shaping the future of the continent, has just unveiled Starline: a blueprint for a high-speed rail system that aims to connect Europe as seamlessly as a city metro. Revealed at the think tank's inaugural summit in Barcelona and developed in collaboration with creative technology studio Bakken & Bæck, Starline combines infrastructure, digital tools, and visual identity into one integrated vision for movement across the continent.
At its core is the proposal for a unified rail network built on existing and future infrastructure, prioritizing journeys under three hours, making routes like Berlin to Warsaw or Milan to Munich competitive with air travel. Additionally, Starline proposes a full rethinking of the experience, from a simplified digital ticketing system to new high-speed transit hubs and a strong visual identity anchored by its blue train design.
The train's deep blue exterior, developed as part of a cohesive visual system, is intended to establish a clear and consistent identity across borders. Rather than functioning purely as branding, the color and form are part of a broader spatial and infrastructural approach, positioning the train itself as an architectural element in motion. The design prioritizes legibility, recognizability, and a sense of continuity, reflecting the ambition to treat mobility infrastructure as both practical and civic.
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Madrid and Barcelona Benefit from Spain’s Free Travel PlanThe proposed new high-speed stations, located just outside major cities, are imagined as more than transit points. Designed to support logistics, gatherings, and culture, these hubs aim to become civic spaces in their own right, capable of hosting events, exhibitions, or sports screenings. The concept draws from Europe's historical relationship with rail as a public and social infrastructure, reinterpreting it through contemporary needs and aesthetics.
A streamlined digital platform would also replace the complexity of national ticketing systems. The aim is to make cross-border travel intuitive and frictionless, removing barriers that currently discourage rail use across the continent. For 21st Europe, this digital cohesion is as important as physical infrastructure in making rail feel like the default choice for short and mid-distance travel. While projects like TEN-T and various national high-speed lines have advanced rail across Europe, Starline aims to integrate design as a missing layer. It does not propose a new system from scratch, but rather a vision that brings together what exists into a coherent, legible, and compelling whole. With Starline, 21st Europe offers a design starting point, a provocation for how Europe's rail future might look, feel, and function in the years to come.
In other mobility news, Athens has announced plans to expand its metro system by over a third in an effort to ease car traffic and improve urban transit. Meanwhile, Studio Libeskind has won the competition to redesign the Issy-les-Moulineaux station area in Paris, introducing a new mixed-use development that integrates transit and public space. In China, MAD Architects has completed its first transit-oriented project—Train Station in the Forest, a transport hub surrounded by greenery that merges infrastructure with landscape.
