Containers as tiny houses on the night train

In Europe, only the Austrian Railways are still investing in night trains, while the German and French railways are claiming this kind of travel becomes too expensive to maintain. It does not make sense to invest again in it, now that the sleeper cars are 30/40 years old and need to be replaced. Unfortunately, the European Union has a policy to invest in high speed trains to connect European cities, not surprisingly in the interest of the countries with high speed train manufacturers: Germany and France. Also the use of rail has become expensive because it is now owned by entities seperated from the railway operators. A political, not an economic, choice.

Travelling by night train has many fans who prefer it to air travel or high speed trains. If you want to start your day in another city (be it for business or pleasure) you now have to either travel early in the morning with the first flight or fast train. If you like to sleep properly you need to travel in the evening and book a hotel room at your destination.

Would it not be great if you could book your hotel room on rail? Especially if these night trains do not depart at regular train stations but from specialised private train stations in the outskirts. At some point during the day you check in. In the station there is a lobby with a restaurant and all the things you expect from a hotel. Before midnight you need to be in your room which then travels slowly to the next city around 500 to 800 kilometers further. Not fast, but you will wake up around 8 o'clock at your destination. You can check out immediately or continue sleeping as much as you want that morning. No need to disembark with all your luggage in a few minutes, you can take hours if you want.

You could also book your hotel room for another night and continue your journey, similar to how the internet protocol works, your hotel room is then like a data package that switches at stations instead of routers. At every station your hotel room is unloaded and spends a day before you travel again at night, allowing you to be a tourist there during the day.

The hotel room fits the flat car for intermodal standardised 20 foot/6 meters container transport. These can be hired commecially, with a locomotive that is adapted to the different security systems in use in Europe.

Because of the modular approach each hotel room has maximum autonomy. Water, electricity, water waste-facility is all on board. When a module needs maintenance or repairs the entire train does not have to wait for it. A fork lift truck takes the module apart. Water can be heated up with solar power on the roof or added at the station. At the station elecricity comes from the network, but while in transit a low voltage circuit can be powered by wind, feeding consumer electronics like phones and tablets. The inside of the container is a plastic mold which intelligently absorps the shocks of the railroad, currently a major complaint about night trains.

Once there is a stable and strong design for these hotel rooms on rail, individuals can also buy them, like they would buy caravans to hook behind their car. Because of the modular design they can even pay a premium to have the hotel room transported to a camping site. Some members of the 'tiny house movement' might even want to live in one as their 'tiny house'.

Seasonal overcapacity can be compensated by renting out these hotel rooms as so called 'tiny houses' to for example students. Or they could be shipped to another continent where seasonal demand increases.

Much like the budget airlines that outcompeted the traditional national airline companies, the business model for this relies for a big part on the extras to be sold at the station. With the difference that in this case it's not about selling peanuts and extra luggage weight. Instead, the stations can develop as destinations in their own right with whatever makes the travellers check in earlier and check out later and spend time and money. Personally, I would like to hire my bicycle from them. I don't mind if there is live music, restaurants, cinema's, hot tubs, swimming pools, valet parking and what not. As long as the hotel room on rails itself is moderately priced, like a regular hotel room. The industrial zone the station is probably located in can keep real estate costs down.