Decommissioned SMRT train carriage to become co-living hotel, expected to open in September at one-north

Unlike Cinderella's fairy godmother, this local start-up wants to transform a carriage into something even better.

Tiny Pod, the mastermind behind Singapore's first shipping container hotel, is planning to launch a co-living 'train hotel' using the carriage of a decommissioned SMRT train and is expected to open in September this year.

This new hospitality concept will be developed with the support of JTC.

According to a joint press release, the hotel, which will be located at LaunchPad @ one-north, is set to have eight rooms – each with an attached bathroom.

Those that value privacy and safety would be glad to know that all rooms in the hotel will be equipped with a smart-lock system developed by another local venture, Igloo Home.

Hotel staff will not be physically stationed at the hotel, but a cleaning team will come in to take care of room turnovers.

There will also be communal areas within the hotel for guests to mingle, one of which is the driver's compartment of the train carriage which will have LCD screens mounted inside showing real-life footage of the train's past journey through a tunnel.

The 'train hotel' will be located at the car park next to Block 69 Ayer Rajah Crescent. 

A public recreational green space will also be built next to the co-living train hotel, with food and beverage vending machines and bicycle racks.

These amenities will also repurpose train chairs as outdoor public benches.

The train hotel is currently under construction but details regarding bookings and room rates have not been confirmed yet, said Tiny Pod Founder and CEO Seah Liang Chiang.

Reassuring potential guests that rates will be lower than Singapore's existing co-living spaces, Seah added that pop-up hotels have gained popularity in recent years as people opt for more sustainable choices.

This project is an extension to Tiny Pod's pop-up shipping container hotel at LaunchPad @ one-north, which opened in 2020. Since then, the start-up's shipping containers have expanded to Gardens by the Bay and Haw Par Villa.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com