New minisuite mockup for night trains in Europe
- Thread starter Jack Kittle
- Start date
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Calling it a MiniSuite is putting lipstick on a pig. It's just an enclosed section with a fold-down table, which doesn't convert to day mode.
Do you think it would be appropriate on a train leaving after 8pm and arriving before 8am the next morning? Then day use would not be an issue.
I see folks describing an itineraries like - London->Amsterdam (afternoon Eurostar); Amsterdam->Vienna (NightJet); Vienna -> lots of different points east (morning services); total length of trip about 24 hours. 3 trains, but with lots of connecting options.
Pricing is projected to be like couchette (4 bed) rather than compartment -> cheaper. See Overnight sleeper train accommodation: couchettes vs. sleepers - Rail Europe Help for details on services.
Sure, I have nothing against it for people who are limber enough to wriggle in there. I'm just saying promoting it as a suite, mini or otherwise, is stretching. More accurate modern terminology would be a "capsule" or a "pod".
Mailliw
OBS Chief
Blame airlines for promoting their first class seats as "suites" just because they have a sliding door. These mockups have been circulating for awhile, but it'll be interesting to see how popular they are when they finally go into service next year.
The basic configuration reminds me of the arrangement in the "Ginga," the Japanese version of the Night Owl that I rode in 1978. The Japanese ones were a three-level tier of bunks, and I think they could be folded up for daytime use. They were kind of like an open section couchette. We never say the daytime configuration, because we boarded in Odawarra at about midnight and detrained at Kyoto at about 7 AM, so all we really did was climb into the bunk and go to sleep. That kind of configuration might be useful on the overnight Northeast Regionals between Boston and Washington, as most of the time, you're sleeping, and I guess if you want to sit up, you could go to the cafe car.
I am really looking forward to the new NightJet equipment, especially the "mini suites" as it creates a very convenient opportunity for people who want to have privacy and not sleep in a room with strangers but at the same time don't want to (or can afford) booking a full couchette or sleeper compartment. I don't think the lack of day-time mode is a huge issue. The capsules look large enough that one can sit upright in them and stretch out the legs, but most importantly: most routes served by NightJet are 8-12h overnight trips, it is not comparable to Amtrak's Long Distance trains.
Twitter user @MartinOnTheMove recently had the opportunity to see the test train (only from outside though):
A very interesting change to the new NightJet trains is the operational aspect. The new train sets will operate like ÖBB's RailJet train sets: Locomotive-hauled but with a fixed-length train set with a cab car at the other end. This means that shunting at stops at which different lines are merged/separated will be simplified (but also that some flexibility will be gone).
Twitter user @MartinOnTheMove recently had the opportunity to see the test train (only from outside though):
A very interesting change to the new NightJet trains is the operational aspect. The new train sets will operate like ÖBB's RailJet train sets: Locomotive-hauled but with a fixed-length train set with a cab car at the other end. This means that shunting at stops at which different lines are merged/separated will be simplified (but also that some flexibility will be gone).
