A twinette is a sleeping-berth compartment with two beds on a train. The term "twinette" is in common use in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

(unlike "roomette", which originated in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

and is more widespread); thus the double-berth compartments described here are those found in trains in Australia or New Zealand. The width of each twinette compartment is typically almost as great as the width of the

sleeping car The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car (rail), passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the main American innovator and owner of sl ...

it is in, with a corridor (occupying the remaining width) running down one side of the car. The number of twinettes in a sleeping car can vary slightly, but it is commonly 8, 9, or 10. The two beds in a twinette are one on top of the other in double-bunk arrangement, and both fold into the front or rear wall of the compartment when not in use, and two seats fold into position in the same area as the berths. Thus the beds are

perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

to the side of the train, in contrast to

roomette A roomette is a type of sleeping car compartment in a railroad passenger train. The term was first used in North America, and was later carried over into Australia and New Zealand. Roomette rooms are relatively small, and were originally genera ...

berths, which are

parallel Parallel may refer to: Mathematics * Parallel (geometry), two lines in the Euclidean plane which never intersect * Parallel (operator), mathematical operation named after the composition of electrical resistance in parallel circuits Science a ...

to it. Twinettes often have their own shower, toilet, sink, mirrors, chilled-water fountain, wardrobes and a picture window. Occasionally twinettes are about the size of a roomette, with both bunks, one on top of the other, filling most of the floor space of the compartment, replacing two seats facing each other. In this case, the overall floor-plan of the sleeping car is similar to roomettes, not the twinettes described earlier, which are more commonly found only in first class. This much more cramped arrangement is more likely to be found in economy-class sleepers on very long-distance trains requiring more than one night's travel. These twinettes do not have their own shower or toilet, and passengers use a communal shower and toilet at the end of the car.

References

{{Reflist, refs= {{cite news , title=Railways Anniversary , url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-age-twinette/140363396/ , work=

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

, date=17 April 1972 , location=Melbourne, Victoria, Australia , page=12 , type=Railways Feature {{cite news , last1=Dunstan , first1=Keith , title=Twinette Time Warp On A Slow Trip To Sydney , url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-age-twinette/140363774/ , work=The Age , date=19 August 1990 , page=2 {{cite news , last1=Miller , first1=Jeff , title=Train Journey Through The Heart Of The Australian Outback , url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-gazette-train-journey/140364021/ , work=The Gazette , date=29 February 1992 , location=Montreal, Quebec, Canada , page=13 , department=Travel Night trains Passenger coach compartments Passenger railroad cars

See also

References