Pictured: The amazing ‘pod’ cabins for solo travellers available on sleek new European sleeper trains from this December
- Austrian railway ÖBB is introducing new ‘mini cabins’ on its sleeper trains
- They promise to offer ‘every necessity for an undisturbed night journey’
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This is just the ticket for solo travellers who like their privacy.
Austria’s national railway, ÖBB, has unveiled a new ‘pod’-style cabin for single travellers on its new generation of Nightjet sleeper trains.
Praised as ‘innovative cocoons’, these new ‘mini cabins’ feature single sleeping berths and just about ‘everything you need for an undisturbed night journey’.
As photographs show, these ‘ultra-modern’ cabins feature a movable folding table with an integrated mirror, coat hooks, a reading lamp as well as adjacent lockers for hand luggage and shoes.
Solo travellers will be able to enjoy the new pods as early as December 10, when Nightjet’s new trains – boasting ‘modern design, more privacy and greater comfort’ – take to the rails. The first journeys are planned for the Vienna to Hamburg and Innsbruck to Hamburg lines.
Austria’s national railway ÖBB has unveiled a new ‘pod’ style cabin for single travellers on its new generation of Nightjet sleeper trains
Praised as ‘innovative cocoons’, these new ‘mini cabins’ feature single sleeping berths
The image above shows how the new pod cabins are arranged throughout the carriage
The current Nightjet service, which launched in 2016, consists of sleeping cars that accommodate between one and three people and couchette cabins that sleep up to six.
As well as the innovative solo pods, the new-generation formations, totalling 33 sets, will comprise extensively redesigned sleeping cars that accommodate one to two people and couchettes that sleep up to four.
The new four-berth couchettes promise to ‘increase your sleeping comfort and ensure a relaxed arrival at your destination’.
Solo travellers will be able to enjoy the new pods as early as December 10, when Nightjet’s new trains take to the rails
The ‘mini cabins’ come complete with lockers for hand luggage and shoes
The Nightjet service, which launched in 2016, is welcoming 33 new trains in total. Above is a passenger in the new mini cabin
The ‘ultra-modern’ mini cabins feature a movable folding table with an integrated mirror, coat hooks and a reading lamp. These new seven-carriage trains have capacity for 254 passengers
The sleeping cars, meanwhile, boast private bathrooms – complete with a shower – and a ‘comfortable’ seating area so travellers can work, read or eat during the journey.
On top of that, each new Nightjet is fitted with a ‘modern’ accessible couchette compartment, for use by up to two wheelchair users and an accompanying person. A barrier-free toilet is also accessible via a low-floor entrance.
ÖBB also said it’s offering improved transport options for travellers – there are six bicycle parking spaces for cycling enthusiasts as well as more space for luggage, strollers and sports equipment.
The new generation trains will have capacity for 254 passengers in seven carriage formations made up of two seating cars, three couchette cars and two sleeping cars.
Though Nightjet already offers four-berth sleeping couchettes and sleeping cars, these sleeping quarters have undergone an extensive redesign. Above is the revamped four-berth couchette
The redesigned sleeping cars boast private bathrooms – complete with a shower – and a ‘comfortable’ seating area so travellers can work, read or eat during the journey
Leonore Gewessler, Austria’s Minister for Climate Action, said: ‘Traveling by train means protecting the climate. This is especially true for the night train.’
She said that passengers can ‘board in Vienna in the evening and wake up refreshed the next morning in another European metropolis’.
Gewessler added: ‘This will be even easier and more convenient in the future.’
ÖBB CEO Andreas Matthä commented: ‘With the new generation of Nightjets, we are consistently continuing to expand our night train fleet and will continue to play a pioneering role in night train traffic in Europe in the future. With our new, ultra-modern Nightjets, we will impress with more comfort and privacy in the future and will clearly focus on the needs of passenger.’
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