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Having travelled a couple of times on overnight trains from Austria to other European cities, these sleeping pods look marginally a larger improvement. - Tempe

Having travelled a couple of times on overnight trains from Austria to other European cities, these sleeping pods look marginally a larger improvement. - Tempeature: Having slept in a cabin where the aircon blasts from the bottom into those sleeping there, they inevitably have to turn it off to sleep, leaving those on the top bunks at temperatures of over 40C in the summer. - Noise/Privacy: In the 4-bunk cabins, I don't want to hear anyone either. Why wouldn't they include the soundproofing curtains in those too. - Space: There's a tiny gap between the beds currently. Look closely and this is also the case. It's impossible having more than 1 person do anything inbetween the beds and stepping out of your own pretty much puts you about 1foot away from the other person's face/legs. Maybe someone can tell me why they can't just make lightweight carriages, and put a lot of them on the back of a train car (more than now). By having more carriages you can make the accommodation more spacious and comfortable. This is what stops me considering it as a viable option for European travel currently. Even if they couldn't fit in the station, what's to stop them letting half the carriages off first, followed by the second half?

em-bee 7y ago
trains longer than the station would double the time at each stop. that's not acceptable. but also, most stations are not designed to have trains longer than the station. a station usually has more platforms than the two rails that feed it. an overlong train would frequently block other trains coming in at other platforms. the only thing that would work is to have two trains on the same route in a short delay from each other. say half an hour. however, for all of this the real problem is cost. i believe germany dropped all overnight trains because they weren't getting used enough compared to high-speed trains. it's interesting that austria bought them, but i guess with austrias lack of high-speed trains, overnight trains are still useful.
- deanclatworthy 7y ago
  Two trains would suit me just fine. Or three. As long as they are serving customers I don't see the problem. I'd guess people weren't using them because they are so cramped and uncomfortable. I would bet they could be economical and comfortable when the whole process is designed from scratch. I don't think this exercise feels like that.
  - improbable22 7y ago
    You should think that the cost is basically per floor area. The cars are already as light as they are willing to go (for crash safety etc). The minimum acceptable space gets you to a price that a trainload of people per day can afford. The beds with their own screens look nicer than the ones in trains I've taken (and at comparable density) and far far nicer than anything in the air I've ever had. (Also nicer than the airport lounges I've slept in between flights...) There are also private cabins which I'm sure cost double.
rkangel 7y ago
> why they can't just make lightweight carriages I would be very surprised if the carriages were any heavier than they had to be. Why would they waste energy costs (and engine size costs) on dragging around weight they didn't have to? I'm sure that weight improvements could be made, but I'm also sure that it would cost money and rolling stock is expensive enough.

em-bee 7y ago

trains longer than the station would double the time at each stop. that's not acceptable. but also, most stations are not designed to have trains longer than the station. a station usually has more platforms than the two rails that feed it. an overlong train would frequently block other trains coming in at other platforms. the only thing that would work is to have two trains on the same route in a short delay from each other. say half an hour. however, for all of this the real problem is cost. i believe germany dropped all overnight trains because they weren't getting used enough compared to high-speed trains. it's interesting that austria bought them, but i guess with austrias lack of high-speed trains, overnight trains are still useful.

deanclatworthy 7y ago
Two trains would suit me just fine. Or three. As long as they are serving customers I don't see the problem. I'd guess people weren't using them because they are so cramped and uncomfortable. I would bet they could be economical and comfortable when the whole process is designed from scratch. I don't think this exercise feels like that.
- improbable22 7y ago
  You should think that the cost is basically per floor area. The cars are already as light as they are willing to go (for crash safety etc). The minimum acceptable space gets you to a price that a trainload of people per day can afford. The beds with their own screens look nicer than the ones in trains I've taken (and at comparable density) and far far nicer than anything in the air I've ever had. (Also nicer than the airport lounges I've slept in between flights...) There are also private cabins which I'm sure cost double.

rkangel 7y ago

> why they can't just make lightweight carriages I would be very surprised if the carriages were any heavier than they had to be. Why would they waste energy costs (and engine size costs) on dragging around weight they didn't have to? I'm sure that weight improvements could be made, but I'm also sure that it would cost money and rolling stock is expensive enough.