In this paper we present an innovative assembly cycle of railway vehicles that can improve the manufacturing process. The study was carry out using virtual reality (VR) technologies in the VR Laboratory of the Competence Regional Centre for the qualification of transportation systems set up by Campania Regional Authority. Using the developed simulation environment we were able to evaluate different workplaces layout configurations of the train assembly cycle. The best workplace layout configuration was detected in order to minimize the lead time in the production line and optimize the automation level and human component for each workplace.