Caledonian Sleeper

[side effect]

Another bad night for the northbound lowlander. Just arriving at Edinburgh and Glasgow now. Nowt in twitter.

 

[Andy Pacer]

Maybe a silly question, when booking a seat on the CS is there a way of knowing which ones will be forward facing? On the two previous occasions I've done it I've always got what I expected, but on looking now on the seat availability for an upcoming trip my mind has gone blank!

 

[alistairlees]

Maybe a silly question, when booking a seat on the CS is there a way of knowing which ones will be forward facing? On the two previous occasions I've done it I've always got what I expected, but on looking now on the seat availability for an upcoming trip my mind has gone blank!

The seats (not the brake compartment / bike compartment) should always be adjacent to the lounge car. So that means the brake is always at the south end of each formation at Euston. All trains except the one to Glasgow reverse at some point in their journey, so it depends which bit of the journey you want you want to face forward on as well.

 

[Andy Pacer]

The seats (not the brake compartment / bike compartment) should always be adjacent to the lounge car. So that means the brake is always at the south end of each formation at Euston. All trains except the one to Glasgow reverse at some point in their journey, so it depends which bit of the journey you want you want to face forward on as well.

Thanks that makes sense. So effectively the bike compartment is at the very southernmost end of the train on the core England to Scotland section before any splits etc occur.

 

[Quakkerillo]

London - Aberdeen seems to have broken down at Carnoustie now? Was already running 60L, and now been stuck at Carnoustie for 40 minutes

Fort William departed 3h late, after the London train arrived, from a different platform than all other CS services. What happened with those passengers? on the London train and a 3 minute change at Edinburgh?

 

[Merseysider]

London - Aberdeen seems to have broken down at Carnoustie now? Was already running 60L, and now been stuck at Carnoustie for 40 minutes

Fort William departed 3h late, after the London train arrived, from a different platform than all other CS services. What happened with those passengers? on the London train and a 3 minute change at Edinburgh?

Still in the dark as to what went on at Edinburgh, but we're getting put on a bus from Crianlarich.

 

[BRX]

Fort William departed 3h late, after the London train arrived, from a different platform than all other CS services.

Platforms 2 and 19 are contiguous and the sleeper occupies both of them during the splitting/joining process. So effectively the Fort William portion always leaves from platform 2 (unless they are using the equivalent double-length platform on the other side of the station).

 

[Quakkerillo]

Oh drat! Keep forgetting about that Edinburgh layout.

 

[BRX]

Thanks that makes sense. So effectively the bike compartment is at the very southernmost end of the train on the core England to Scotland section before any splits etc occur.

In theory but it's not unknown for the seats and/or the lounge car to be the wrong way around.

 

[Andy Pacer]

In theory but it's not unknown for the seats and/or the lounge car to be the wrong way around.

No problem, I just wanted a fair idea with the usual provisos!

 

[_toommm_]

Maybe a silly question, when booking a seat on the CS is there a way of knowing which ones will be forward facing? On the two previous occasions I've done it I've always got what I expected, but on looking now on the seat availability for an upcoming trip my mind has gone blank!

But if you're off to Fort William from London/Crewe/Preston, you'll need to change coaches at Edinburgh Waverley. There's normally around a 30 minute wait while the coaches detach.

I don't know if it's normal practice, but the guard woke myself and other Fort William passengers just before Edinburgh to make sure I didn't over sleep.

 

[John Bishop]

So what happened this morning to the Aberdeen portion? Loco failure? Arrived 112 late.

 

[route101]

The seats (not the brake compartment / bike compartment) should always be adjacent to the lounge car. So that means the brake is always at the south end of each formation at Euston. All trains except the one to Glasgow reverse at some point in their journey, so it depends which bit of the journey you want you want to face forward on as well.

Except when it reverses at Wembley if going up the ECML . The seated was first behind the loco

 

[Bletchleyite]

In theory but it's not unknown for the seats and/or the lounge car to be the wrong way around.

Aren't the Mk5 seats all the same way round anyway, so you don't get to pick?

 

[marks87]

Aren't the Mk5 seats all the same way round anyway, so you don't get to pick?

No, they change direction roughly half way along the coach.

https://www.seat61.com/images/caledonian-sleeper-seats-large.jpg

 

[Bletchleyite]

No, they change direction roughly half way along the coach.

https://www.seat61.com/images/caledonian-sleeper-seats-large.jpg

So they do, cheers.

 

[BRX]

Except when it reverses at Wembley if going up the ECML . The seated was first behind the loco

Still leaves Euston in the same order as usual though.

 

[lyneux]

I took the lowland sleeper to Edinburgh last week and finally had a ride on the new Mk5 sleepers. I'm sorry to say I don't think that they are an improvement on the Mk3s.

- Ride quality poorer than Mk3s.
- The mattresses on the beds are a bit too hard compounding the ride quality problem.
- Whistling noise when at speed from a vent(?) under the window (I ended up putting a pillow there to try and block it out).
- The toilet in our car had broken (filled with pee!) by the time we got to Edinburgh.

At least we arrived on time though!

Guy

 

[Morayshire]

So what happened this morning to the Aberdeen portion? Loco failure? Arrived 112 late.

No sleeper stock or 73s in Aberdeen when I left there just now.

 

[TimboM]

No sleeper stock or 73s in Aberdeen when I left there just now.

That'll be because they're at Polmadie.

 

[47271]

I took the lowland sleeper to Edinburgh last week and finally had a ride on the new Mk5 sleepers. I'm sorry to say I don't think that they are an improvement on the Mk3s.

- Ride quality poorer than Mk3s.
- The mattresses on the beds are a bit too hard compounding the ride quality problem.
- Whistling noise when at speed from a vent(?) under the window (I ended up putting a pillow there to try and block it out).
- The toilet in our car had broken (filled with pee!) by the time we got to Edinburgh.

At least we arrived on time though!

Guy

Yup, the consensus is that they're technically over complicated and badly built leading to (especially plumbing) faults all over the place, were given an interior design specified by people with no idea of onboard catering or luggage storage, and put on rackety running gear woefully unsuited to overnight services. Other than that they're great.

 

[glenbogle]

So what happened this morning to the Aberdeen portion? Loco failure? Arrived 112 late.

Failed at Carnoustie,

So what happened this morning to the Aberdeen portion? Loco failure? Arrived 112 late.

The sleeper failed at Carnoustie, the engine of the 6A34 was detached from the tanks at Dundee and sent to assist and brought the sleeper back to the yard in Dundee. The engine then reattached to the tanks and continued on its merry way to Aberdeen.

 

[John Bishop]

Failed at Carnoustie,

The sleeper failed at Carnoustie, the engine of the 6A34 was detached from the tanks at Dundee and sent to assist and brought the sleeper back to the yard in Dundee. The engine then reattached to the tanks and continued on its merry way to Aberdeen.

Thanks Glenbogle.

Not a good day for CS yesterday, the FW portion arrived 242 Late!

Interesting to see what the recovery arrangements are for the Aberdeen portion once it does over to Mark 5s.

Noticed a 73 went from Inverness to Dundee to rescue 1A25 from Dundee yard yesterday.

 

[marks87]

Thanks Glenbogle.

Not a good day for CS yesterday, the FW portion arrived 242 Late!

Interesting to see what the recovery arrangements are for the Aberdeen portion once it does over to Mark 5s.

Noticed a 73 went from Inverness to Dundee to rescue 1A25 from Dundee yard yesterday.

Unless it's a failure that means the loco can't physically be moved, then anything with a draw hook can be used for recovery by using the failed loco as a glorified barrier vehicle.

Assistance from the rear could be an issue if there's no convenient place to run (well, pull/push) the 73 round.

 

[williamn]

I'm looking at taking the sleeper to Inverness in either mid or late September and am being quoted £190 for a one way standard berth. Is this normal? Back in June I paid less than this for a first class berth (ok it's the same bar breakfast provided) to Fort William.

 

[theironroad]

I'm looking at taking the sleeper to Inverness in either mid or late September and am being quoted £190 for a one way standard berth. Is this normal? Back in June I paid less than this for a first class berth (ok it's the same bar breakfast provided) to Fort William.

I'd imagine that is based on the hope that the new stock will be running in the highlander by then.

Serco/CS decided to massively hike the prices when new stock was introduced.

 

[TimboM]

I'm looking at taking the sleeper to Inverness in either mid or late September and am being quoted £190 for a one way standard berth. Is this normal? Back in June I paid less than this for a first class berth (ok it's the same bar breakfast provided) to Fort William.

I'd imagine that is based on the hope that the new stock will be running in the highlander by then.

Serco/CS decided to massively hike the prices when new stock was introduced.

Prices are demand driven, so increase for the same accommodation as the rooms book up. The Highlander prices to the end of September are "transitional" - i.e. based on the assumption it'll still be old stock.

The starting prices (for Classic/Standard berths) were the same or very similar between transitional and Mk5 prices. The demand went up due to the new stock being introduced so the rooms left were at the higher price bands. The premium (Club/Caledonian Double) rooms were also added to the offering and are indeed significantly more expensive, but then have en suites, double beds etc. not available on the old stock, so not surprisingly are being charged at a higher rate.

 

[glenbogle]

I'm looking at taking the sleeper to Inverness in either mid or late September and am being quoted £190 for a one way standard berth. Is this normal? Back in June I paid less than this for a first class berth (ok it's the same bar breakfast provided) to Fort William.

Conversely I just booked an advance solo from Paddington to Penzance for £59
Even if you have a ticket the sleeper supplement doesn’t come in for less than £120 on the Caledonian Sleeper, on the plus side you regularly get your money back when it’s late!

 

[Bletchleyite]

To be fair the GWR one is about half the distance.

 

[Siemens Trains]

To be fair the GWR one is about half the distance.

Is distance really a big factor in the equation for ticket prices on sleepers?
Not familiar with how all the costs work out - maybe only half the bed sheets are washed if it's only half the distance.