New night train start-up - Nox

[Gaelan]

Most other night trains don't have this issue or it can be reasonably easily avoided by running routes not involving a reversal. For the Cally to do that it'd need to switch to the ECML.

Would this not be fixable, at a moderate penalty to journey time, by going around the south sub prior to arrival in Waverley?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Would this not be fixable, at a moderate penalty to journey time, by going around the south sub prior to arrival in Waverley?

Replied in a new thread: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...oided-so-flatbeds-could-be-introduced.307506/

 

[AlterEgo]

They are

I'm on about their second phase sleeper designs, not the existing stock they have procured for the lie flat suites concept.

 

[AdamWW]

I'm on about their second phase sleeper designs, not the existing stock they have procured for the lie flat suites concept.

Have I got completely the wrong end of the stick here?

I thought their whole plan was to acquire second hand seated coaches and convert them to their novel arrangement of cabins.
Is this just for the lie flat seats they have just announced, and they are planning to operate new-build sleeper coaches to their design (by 2028?)

The unorthodox layouts are driven as much by the need to use seating carriages as by any desire to reimagine night trains. Nox are making a virtue out of a necessity, and they wouldn't have gone in this direction if they had got their hands on couchettes or sleepers.

I'd be interested in your source for this.

 

[AlterEgo]

Have I got completely the wrong end of the stick here?

I thought their whole plan was to acquire second hand seated coaches and convert them to their novel arrangement of cabins.

At the moment they have converted old carriages to suites. These will not be the same vehicles that will convey the proper sleeper accommodation.

 

[citycat]

Having watched the video, it all looks a bit of a nightmare for the poor old carriage cleaners who will have to service those vehicles during the day and get into all those nooks and crannies and make up bedding in those rooftop spaces.

Hope they will get some extra pay for working on Nox vehicles.

 

[Gag Halfrunt]

I'd be interested in your source for this.

It's my conjecture. I haven't got a source. First, it would be illogical to spend money on gutting existing couchettes or sleepers when the shortage of night stock is the problem you are trying to solve. Second, the need to start with open seating cars creates an opportunity and perhaps a need to design entirely new sleeper compartment layouts that don't line up with standard compartment sizes.

 

[JGurney]

Or maybe the beds could just be made with the pillow at the other end

On the new NightJet stock, the foot ends of the berths are in a narrow alcove between the outside wall and the wall of the toilet/shower compartment. The ladder is fixed near the foot end of the upper berth and there are also night lights at the head end only (although that could presumably be altered). Lying the other way around from the designed way would be a bit like having your head in a small cupboard.

 

[Ringo2112]

interesting route to begin with, when was the last Domestic only German sleeper route?

I agree. Seems like a short route for a night train. I would have liked to see a longer route.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Yesterday at 21:15 ==

Really close to the edge if this route even needs a night train. You can do it in under six hours with an ICE train. They better have good fares where it would be comparable to a hotel.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Really close to the edge if this route even needs a night train. You can do it in under six hours with an ICE train. They better have good fares where it would be comparable to a hotel.

Surely that's 1.5 hours longer than Glasgow and Edinburgh?

 

[Watershed]

I agree. Seems like a short route for a night train. I would have liked to see a longer route.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: Yesterday at 21:15 ==

Really close to the edge if this route even needs a night train. You can do it in under six hours with an ICE train. They better have good fares where it would be comparable to a hotel.

The last direct daytime train is at 18:11 northbound and 18:01 southbound, between the respective Hbf stations. Later southbound options involving connections are possible but would probably be regarded as risky and unattractive by business travellers given DB's notorious punctuality record.

So not exactly times that allow a lot of leeway for getting to the Hbf after finishing work at 5pm, let alone accounting for the fact that many of the business travellers in their target market may be wanting to attend dinners or go out for drinks.

 

[williamn]

They better have good fares where it would be comparable to a hotel.

Starting from €65

 

[Sorcerer]

I agree. Seems like a short route for a night train. I would have liked to see a longer route.

Really close to the edge if this route even needs a night train. You can do it in under six hours with an ICE train. They better have good fares where it would be comparable to a hotel.

Munich-Hamburg is a good start given it's a long journey within a domestic market, which means applying for track-access in just one country, while still remaining long enough to justify an overnight route between two major economic centres. If nothing else it would serve as a good proof-of-concept given that these sleeper trains will be all beds rather than having standard seating and couchette coaches.

 

[Ian99]

Just a point regarding arrival times - as a leisure traveler, I'm sometimes put off by trains arriving too early in the morning. Especially if I have a single sleeper, I like to wake up in the morning and enjoy the ride for an hour or three before having to leave the train.

 

[mono1989]

I've booked myself on the first night of operations on the 23rd March so will provide feedback and a youtube video for my channel.

 

[BahrainLad]

Doing a deal with gyms (hopefully high quality Third Space-style places where you could linger, get a coffee etc before meetings) in each city for showering / freshening up after arrival is a smart idea.