Each section has the destination displayed on screens on the outside of the carriages and on screens inside at the end of each coach so it's very easy to see which end is going where and as the bikes are kept in the seated coach, each end has its own bike storage area. So unless you pay absolutely no attention to what coach you're in, or you deliberately put your bike in the wrong seated coach, you'll be fine.
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Caledonian Sleeper
- Thread starter Essexman
- Start date
Each section has the destination displayed on screens on the outside of the carriages and on screens inside at the end of each coach so it's very easy to see which end is going where and as the bikes are kept in the seated coach, each end has its own bike storage area. So unless you pay absolutely no attention to what coach you're in, or you deliberately put your bike in the wrong seated coach, you'll be fine.
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R
RailUK Forums
ok thanks. is the Car layout always the same? for example on one video I saw, northbound from Euston: A was at the front next to the engine, B,C,D,E,F / J,K,L,M,N,P was at the back, and there also appeared to be a second engine behind P.
I am guessing the back engine is not providing any locomotive power until Carstairs, at which point it is moved to the front?
I am guessing the back engine is not providing any locomotive power until Carstairs, at which point it is moved to the front?
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YorkshireBear
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Jul 2010
- Messages
- 8,692
Doing the sleeper for the first time tonight. What's the food like onboard is it worth eating beforehand? And the club car, do they let you stay there for a drink or just to eat?
The car layout can vary on occasion, but the seated coach will always be at the end of each section, of course that means in Euston one is usually in the middle, but sometimes they can be at extreme ends of the train too. In any event, there is a bike symbol on the doors of the carriages which take bikes and the platform staff will direct you to the right one anyway.
The locomotive at the back stays in Euston, that brings the train from the depot and another one joins on while the train is sitting in Euston. Another loco is waiting at Carstairs to take the Edinburgh section after the train splits, the same loco takes the train from Euston to Glasgow Central.
The Big Boo
Member
- Joined
- 14 Mar 2011
- Messages
- 46
Eat before you board and yes you can order drinks only if you wish in the club car.
This
Albert29
New Member
Not the trip I had in mind but can't complain too much as the trip is almost free and the trains do line up.
Dear Guest,
Due to increased absences of safety critical staff scheduled to operate our train service’s we have had to make amendments to our timetables from Sunday 5th December to Thursday 9th December. To keep as many of our guests moving as possible in these challenging times, we have had to move your reservation onto our Lowlander Train to Glasgow and you will continue the remainder of your journey by Scotrail service to Fort William.
The new departure time from London Euston will be 2350 and rooms are available for boarding at 2230. You are invited into the Avanti First Class Lounge in Euston before boarding commences.
Your booked accommodation type will remain the same and you will be advised of your new room number when you board the train at Euston.
The train will arrive in Glasgow Central at 0722 and rooms vacated by 0800. You will then connect with the Scotrail Service to Fort William from Glasgow Queen Street at 0823, arriving at Fort William at 1208. Ticket acceptance is in place and ScotRail staff will be aware of these arrangements and your Caledonian Sleeper ticket to travel will be accepted without any additional charge. Glasgow Queen Street station is a 15-minute walk from Glasgow Central and there is a regular Station Link bus that operates between the two stations.
As you will be delayed arriving at Fort William you will receive an automatic 100% delay repay and this will be refunded back to the card that was used to make the reservation. This will take three to five working days to show on your account.
Dear Guest,
Due to increased absences of safety critical staff scheduled to operate our train service’s we have had to make amendments to our timetables from Monday 6th December to Friday 10th December. To keep as many of our guests moving as possible in these challenging times, we have had to transfer your booking onto our Glasgow Central service to London Euston.
There is a Scotrail service departing Fort William at 17.37 arriving into Glasgow Queen Street at 21.24. Glasgow Queen Street station is a 15-minute walk to Glasgow Central and there is a regular Station Link Bus that operates between the two stations.
Caledonian Sleeper train at Glasgow Central will be available for boarding from 2200 with a departure time of 2340. Arrival into London Euston will earlier time of 0707 and rooms are available until 0730.
If this is not suitable then you may cancel and receive a full refund. This can be done by either contacting our Guest Service Centre on 0330 060 0500 or emailing us at [email protected] prior to the departure of the service.
Please accept our sincere apologies for this disruption and for any inconvenience caused and as an apology to guests who still wish to travel with us, there will be a 50% automatic refund to guests who have booked directly with us.
Dear Guest,
Due to increased absences of safety critical staff scheduled to operate our train service’s we have had to make amendments to our timetables from Sunday 5th December to Thursday 9th December. To keep as many of our guests moving as possible in these challenging times, we have had to move your reservation onto our Lowlander Train to Glasgow and you will continue the remainder of your journey by Scotrail service to Fort William.
The new departure time from London Euston will be 2350 and rooms are available for boarding at 2230. You are invited into the Avanti First Class Lounge in Euston before boarding commences.
Your booked accommodation type will remain the same and you will be advised of your new room number when you board the train at Euston.
The train will arrive in Glasgow Central at 0722 and rooms vacated by 0800. You will then connect with the Scotrail Service to Fort William from Glasgow Queen Street at 0823, arriving at Fort William at 1208. Ticket acceptance is in place and ScotRail staff will be aware of these arrangements and your Caledonian Sleeper ticket to travel will be accepted without any additional charge. Glasgow Queen Street station is a 15-minute walk from Glasgow Central and there is a regular Station Link bus that operates between the two stations.
As you will be delayed arriving at Fort William you will receive an automatic 100% delay repay and this will be refunded back to the card that was used to make the reservation. This will take three to five working days to show on your account.
Dear Guest,
Due to increased absences of safety critical staff scheduled to operate our train service’s we have had to make amendments to our timetables from Monday 6th December to Friday 10th December. To keep as many of our guests moving as possible in these challenging times, we have had to transfer your booking onto our Glasgow Central service to London Euston.
There is a Scotrail service departing Fort William at 17.37 arriving into Glasgow Queen Street at 21.24. Glasgow Queen Street station is a 15-minute walk to Glasgow Central and there is a regular Station Link Bus that operates between the two stations.
Caledonian Sleeper train at Glasgow Central will be available for boarding from 2200 with a departure time of 2340. Arrival into London Euston will earlier time of 0707 and rooms are available until 0730.
If this is not suitable then you may cancel and receive a full refund. This can be done by either contacting our Guest Service Centre on 0330 060 0500 or emailing us at [email protected] prior to the departure of the service.
Please accept our sincere apologies for this disruption and for any inconvenience caused and as an apology to guests who still wish to travel with us, there will be a 50% automatic refund to guests who have booked directly with us.
Bletchleyite
Veteran Member
That is to be fair pretty proactive. Arrangements made in advance and a completely free trip.
Steddenm
Member
Free? It's a 50% refund
paul1609
Established Member
If you were going for the scenery, the lowlander to Glasgow and the ScotRail service is actually a better bet in winter. Sunrise at Crianlarich tomorrow is 8.29 with the sleeper scheduled to pass through at 7.45.
Think the 73 was 73970 and TOPS was showing the wrong location. It had serous wheel flats and was restricted to 60 mph.
Class800
Established Member
75% refund for the passenger, as 100% of outbound and 50% of return legs refunded
W&C
Member
What do you think of the CS being separate from the ScotRail franchise? I personally think it should be should be added, but considering you can't really use CS between Scottish cities (with exceptions up North of course), it can easily be argued both ways.
YorkshireBear
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Jul 2010
- Messages
- 8,692
No bar tonight on the Inverness portion or room service due to lack of team leaders fortunately turned up early and got early warning. Beer and whiskey from coop in the club car feels just as good!
Peter Sarf
Established Member
Except when I saw the destinations change a while after the ECS arrived at Euston !. Remember information can change and does.
Rear engine, if it leaves Euston with the train, is probably on the occasions the train reverses at Wembley yard to continue its journey across to the East Coast Mainline. That happens if the West Coast main line is being avoided (engineering works).
That is what normally happens.
I imagine the best bit is the CoOp option would be cheaper and more reliable.
ChiefPlanner
Established Member
The Co-op ,would almost certainly be cheaper. If limited perhaps in choice.
At least you have (hopefully) hot water and heat. BR's Caledonian sleeper in an ex Pullman car circa 1977 could only run to a pork pie and truly awful tinned beer. Plus we got no morning tea. (staff shortage ....)
At least you have (hopefully) hot water and heat. BR's Caledonian sleeper in an ex Pullman car circa 1977 could only run to a pork pie and truly awful tinned beer. Plus we got no morning tea. (staff shortage ....)
Dren Ahmeti
Member
Attachments
norbitonflyer
Established Member
Normally the Glasgow portion is at the front, so the first seated/cycle carriage you come to when coming onto the platform from the concourse willbe the one for Edinburgh (whether it is at the rear of the train in the middle). I'm not sure what happens when the sleepers are diverted over the ECML - you would want the Glasgow portion at the front (Glasgow) end on arrival at Edinburgh, but because of the reversal at Wembley that should mean it's on the stops at Euston.
In the olden days (i.e Mark 3 sleepers) the usual shunting arrangements at Carstairs (Lowlander) and Edinburgh (Highlander) seemed to be that the Glasgow portion was leading in both directions, and likewise the Aberdeen/Fort William portion, thus facilitating stock rotation since a half-rake that left Euston at the "Country" end of a Highlander one night would, two nights later, be ready to leave at the "London" end.
I understand the Edinburgh and Glasgow portions swapped over at Polmadie though during the day though, so the Edinburgh portion that left Euston at the London end of the train would return the next night as the Glasgow portion, still at the London end of the train.
norbitonflyer
Established Member
That seems to be a fairly pragmatic solution to a problem, although longer term perhaps they need to provide more staff to cover.
Can't be helped, but if you are planning a walking trip, losing more than two hours of daylight at this time of year because of the late arrival might be a problem. (The later arrival on the day train certainly changed our plans for the first day of a walking holiday when the Sleeper was cancelled because of strike action back in the Summer). At this time of year no-one ism likely to be still out on the hills at 1737 though.
Another factor is distancing - the Sleeper is about the only public transport on which you can travel and be reasonably sure you are not going to come into contact with the Dreaded Lurgy. This is an important consideration for anyone who is clinically vulnerable - for example with a compromised immune system for whom vaccines are less effective than the population at large. On our own trip in the summer we did use the daytime train from Glasgow to Fort William, and did get hit by the pingdemic at some point in our journey.
Albert29
New Member
Yes,
I love the sleeper, have used it for nearly 40 years to go walking and am happy to buy Flexipass for the experience (and unfortunately know I will get a good chunk of the money back over the year due to delays).
Waking up along Loch Lomond, eating breakfast crossing Rannoch Moor, getting out at Corrour in the snow and getting on an evening train at Corrour on a summer evening all make it vastly worthwhile. An overly short lowlander just does not deliver that.
The delays and refunds are always dealt with chearfully and efficiently, I was on the Inverness to London train that broke down in Stirling a few weeks ago and the only potential pain apart from two day trains and train food is that you are on an LNER day train and someone can reserve the seat you are sitting on for a journey further down the line. No one did but the train was packed. Not sure how they could sort that easily short of issuing tickets at 5am.
It is a real shame the train (and the bus) to Mallaig leaves Fort William before the sleeper arrives so you can't connect to the small Isles ferries efficiently but Spean Bridge to the Glen Sheil/Skye bus does work well. Mallaig to Fort Wiliam and Inverness connections work much better, if excitingly tight.
There is a bit less sense of community with the new operator but the staff are generally great and happy to chat about the good old days! It is a shame you don't get the chat with the early morning walkers and runners going one stop up the line in the guards van anymore.
I suffer a pang of guilt that the taxpayer is subsidising my fun and wonder how long it will last but as others say it is a political decision and larger sums of money are wasted elsewhere.
So I will continue to defend it and forgive it, just don't ask me when I am standing on a cold platform somewhere in the middle of the country!
I love the sleeper, have used it for nearly 40 years to go walking and am happy to buy Flexipass for the experience (and unfortunately know I will get a good chunk of the money back over the year due to delays).
Waking up along Loch Lomond, eating breakfast crossing Rannoch Moor, getting out at Corrour in the snow and getting on an evening train at Corrour on a summer evening all make it vastly worthwhile. An overly short lowlander just does not deliver that.
The delays and refunds are always dealt with chearfully and efficiently, I was on the Inverness to London train that broke down in Stirling a few weeks ago and the only potential pain apart from two day trains and train food is that you are on an LNER day train and someone can reserve the seat you are sitting on for a journey further down the line. No one did but the train was packed. Not sure how they could sort that easily short of issuing tickets at 5am.
It is a real shame the train (and the bus) to Mallaig leaves Fort William before the sleeper arrives so you can't connect to the small Isles ferries efficiently but Spean Bridge to the Glen Sheil/Skye bus does work well. Mallaig to Fort Wiliam and Inverness connections work much better, if excitingly tight.
There is a bit less sense of community with the new operator but the staff are generally great and happy to chat about the good old days! It is a shame you don't get the chat with the early morning walkers and runners going one stop up the line in the guards van anymore.
I suffer a pang of guilt that the taxpayer is subsidising my fun and wonder how long it will last but as others say it is a political decision and larger sums of money are wasted elsewhere.
So I will continue to defend it and forgive it, just don't ask me when I am standing on a cold platform somewhere in the middle of the country!
Re splitting @Carstairs
No.
The Edinburgh seats are normally at the rear of the train leaving Euston.
No.
The Edinburgh seats are normally at the rear of the train leaving Euston.
norbitonflyer
Established Member
Are both halves not usually the same way round? (Which would put the Glasgow seats in the middle of the train)
So it seems the Lowlander formation at Euston is Edinburgh [ A(seats/bike), Lounge, B, C, D, E, F, G(prm) ] ; Glasgow [ H(seats/bike), Lounge, J, K, L, M, N, P(prm) ]
But the 2 rakes could be in any order, and each one possibly flipped front-back.
But the 2 rakes could be in any order, and each one possibly flipped front-back.
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Their train service’s what?
Its good that they keep folk updated however when I took the sleeper a few months ago and the Aberdeen-Edinburgh portion was cancelled, they said CrossCountry staff would be aware of arrangements and there would be staff at Waverley to answer questions. In reality, I never saw any CrossCountry staff during my journey and we got off at Edinburgh to find station staff confused and the waiting room locked. Eventually a security guard unlocked it, and we got on our train around 00:45 but overall the experience wasn't great.
We were given a 50% discount which resulted in my journey only costing £17, which is very good value although the journey itself wasn't very comfortable. Next time I'll cough up for a room!
However its all academic for now. The Lowlander is currently only going to Edinburgh.
norbitonflyer
Established Member
I assume you are listing from the concourse end. Because of the way shunting is done at Carstairs, it would be unusual (and operationally inconvenient) for the Glasgow portion to be at the rear in either direction.
It is possible but unusual for a set to end up in reverse formation> It could happen to a Lowlander routed via the East Coast Main Line, in which case the Glasgow portion has had a reversal at Wembley, whilst the Edinburgh's reversal at Wembley is cancelled out by not reversing at Carstairs, but arrives/leaves Edinburgh from the wrong end of the station.
It can also happen if the Lowlander runs as a complete train to Edinburgh, as it than has not reversed at Carstairs
If the Highlander is routed via the ECML it ends up at Edinburgh the right way round, as the Wembley reverse cancels out arriving/departing from the wrong end at Waverley.
YorkshireBear
Established Member
- Joined
- 23 Jul 2010
- Messages
- 8,692
First trip on the sleeper for free after an over 2 hour delay! Didn't spoil the experience or the club car being shut. Was very enjoyable.
So if the Lowlander is not routed via the ECML, and does split at Carstairs, i.e. "normal operation" then it should be this at Euston, with G at the concourse end?
[engine] [ H(seats/bike), Lounge, J, K, L, M, N, P(prm) ] [ A(seats/bike), Lounge, B, C, D, E, F, G(prm) ]
[engine] [ H(seats/bike), Lounge, J, K, L, M, N, P(prm) ] [ A(seats/bike), Lounge, B, C, D, E, F, G(prm) ]