Cabin-Travel as an alternative to air

The depletion of oil reserves is expected to make conventional air travel increasingly uneconomic. We propose a new style of travel, Cabin-travel, which would provide a viable alternative to intra-continental air journeys. Passengers travel in a single private Cabin which is automatically loaded onto carriers; the journey then proceeds along a series of links with automated interchanges in between. Cabins are big enough for four to sit comfortably or two people to sleep lying down, with ample space for luggage. A single traveller would occupy a single Cabin. Journeys will often take longer than by air but will be more comfortable and would allow passengers to sleep or work without interruption and in complete privacy. Externally Cabins are identical to SSACs and the same automated handling can be used. 

 At the start of the journey travellers are assigned a Cabin which they will occupy for the whole journey. They board this Cabin with their entire luggage, instruct the system where they want to go and make themselves comfortable. The Cabin will be automatically loaded onto the carrier for the first leg and then transferred automatically onto the next leg and so on to the final destination. Basic toilet facilities would only be provided on longer sections of the journey. If the traveller needs more than this, to have a wash or a meal, they indicate their desire to the system on the Cabin interface. At the next interchange the Cabin is directed to the appropriate facility instead of the next carrier. The travellers temporarily leave the Cabin to use the facilities and, when ready, get back in and instruct the system to resume the journey. At the destination the Cabin can be parked so that the travellers can carry on sleeping if they wish.

 Travellers could go to bed, for example, in London and wake up in Rome, with breakfast waiting. They would be able to sleep comfortably in their Cabin in complete privacy. 

 The longer sections of the journey will use the high-speed rail network which is being extended across Europe. The integration of Cabin-travel with existing services will allow the infrastructure to be used and more traffic to be carried at lower cost, giving a much needed improvement to the economics of rail.

Cabin-travel will enable a substantial shift from air to rail for overland journeys. It will provide large savings in energy and considerable reduction of CO2 emissions. It also has the potential to reduce the cost of rail travel by making more intense use of infrastructure. To reduce the cost of travel to below that for air would need a tax on air fuel or new, lower-cost, ground-based transit technology. It seems feasible that the capacity of the high-speed rail network could be expanded enough to take the extra traffic.  

 Economics

 The figure summarises the components of costs for various modes of transport. Although costs are accounted for differently for the different modes we have attempted to categorize the components to make them comparable.

1. (red) is those costs which are dependant only on distance travelled, for example tyre and track wear.
2. (magenta) is for standing costs. These are incurred whether the vehicles move or not.
3. (dark blue) is for the repayment of capital on the infrastructure. This can in some circumstances be left out of costings for some modes, for example where they have been paid for by government funding, which may also be the case for established roads.
4. (yellow) is the untaxed fuel cost. In the case of rail this is the cost of electricity.
5. (green) is for the extra cost of fuel tax. Fuel for road-based transport is always taxed but currently air fuel is not. In this case the band shows the effect of 100% tax.

The spreadsheet used to generate this chart will be made available when I have tidied it up. The columns for car, coach and air are reasonably firm and can be checked against actual fares. The column for rail is less firm but we believe adequate for illustration. The capital costs vary widely and there are state subsidies which can vary in size and form.

The main conclusions are:

• The economics of rail transport are dominated by the cost of the track. The potential of Cabin-travel would be to increase the amount of traffic that can be carried on a particular section of track.
• Air travel economics is dominated by fuel cost, where fuel duties would be significant. The top section of this column illustrates a tax equal to that on petrol, which is probably considerably more than is politically feasible.
• Both an equitable air fuel levy and an increased capacity for high-speed rail are needed to shift the economic advantage from air to rail.
• Car travel is the slowest and most expensive way to travel but has the particular attractions of a private space to travel in, flexible baggage capacity and control over the journey. Cabin-travel will also have these advantages combined with lower cost, greater safety and faster travel.