One of the great promises of autonomous vehicles is that, one day in the future, you'll be able to get into your car, fall asleep, and then wake up refreshed at your destination. This would be a nice luxury, and it would almost certainly reshape the geography of our cities.

But at the same time, it's worth a reminder that "sleeper cars", or bed carriages as they were originally called, are definitely not a new thing. Possibly the first example of a sleeper car was in England in the 1830s. Trains, of course, don't take you exactly where you want to go like a car, but a sleeper train does allow you to travel while you sleep.

And so it is interesting to see that sleeper trains are apparently seeing a resurgence in popularity across Europe. To the point that the trains are full and rail operators can't seem to get their hands on new carriages. I can't recall ever travelling in a sleeper train, but I have to say that this looks like a highly civilized way to move around:

Image: ÖBB (Austria's national rail operator)