On the moquette: how did one textile take over the railcar?
Milo O
2025 celebrates two-hundred years of the public passenger train in Great Britain. 1 It was on the 27 th of September 1825 when the locomotive Locomotion No. 1 hauled an estimated six hundred passengers on the opening of the Stockton and Darlington railway. The train consisted of only one purpose-built passenger car named Experiment holding an alleged ‘16 or 18 passengers, facing each other’. 2 Not much is known about the seating arrangements of this inaugural train, yet most passengers were forced into awkward positions in rail cars previously used for transporting coal. The wagons were wooden, conditions were cramped. There was no sense of stability, safety, or convenience; the passengers probably experienced sweaty seats, splinters and soreness. The quest to seat passengers in an ergonomic and friendly way is a problem which arose on the very first train; it is still a concern today. The development and introduction of the moquette is the solution which the railways have come to. This material has served the railway for just over 100 years, first appearing on London’s tubes, trolleybuses and buses in the 1920s. 3 Chosen for its practicality, aesthetic and comfort, it is part of the reason why commuters no longer question the journey; they focus on the destination. In the modern day, all over Europe and the rest of the world, the moquette is the go-to upholstery for almost all low- and medium-distance public forms of transport. But how did the moquette conquer and cover every sitting surface? Ergonomically, a piece of upholstery can have different textures, colours, patterns, thicknesses and densities. These factors translate to the characteristics felt by the user, for instance, softness, firmness, familiarity and calmness. The moquette provides the balance between practicality and comfort; it is highly modifiable, and it complements its surroundings. 4 A textile is defined as a moquette based on the presence of a pile. 5 A pile is a length of material which sticks out onto the surface of the textile like little hairs. The pile is produced initially as loops of material; these can remain as loops known as closed pile. They can also be trimmed on an industrial cropping blade leaving individual strand ends known as open pile. Open pile leaves the ends of the material loose; these cushion up against the clothing of the passenger; and while they may appear 1 National Railway Museum (2023) ‘Railway History Revealed as New Research into Locomotion is Published’. https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/node/13892 . Consulted 04/08/25. 2 Hornby Hobbies (2025) ‘Carriages / Wagons for Locomotion No.1’. https://community.hornbyhobbies.com/forums/topic/34768-carriages-wagons-for-locomotion-no1/ . Consulted 04/08/25. 3 London Transport Museum Ltd ‘All about moquette’. https://www.ltmuseum.co.uk/media/93184/download . Consulted 13/08/25. 4 Marshall, G. (2023) ‘Meet the Tube Moquette Designer’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAJrfL6loC8&t=451s . Consulted 13/08/25. 5 Signature Upholstery Ltd (2019) ‘Moire, Moquette, Repp & Velvet’. https://signatureupholstery.co.uk/moire- moquette-repp-velvet/ . Consulted 13/08/25.
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