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Caledonian Sleeper

Berliner

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8 Oct 2020
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Edinburgh
These tiers are not quite the same as the old ones. This level 3 allows movement around mainland Scotland, although they haven't yet said if it includes the rest of the UK. Scottish islands will still be off limits for mainlanders.

Tourism in Scotland won't be open until later.
 
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MrEd

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13 Jan 2019
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My understanding was that the plan is for mainland Scotland to move from level 4 to level 3 restrictions on 26 April, which still prohibits non-essential travel across local authority boundaries. Obviously lots of pent up demand for essential travel between London & Fort William in the last week of April...

Going back to the reopening of the seated coach, looking at RTT & National Rail journey planner, it does appear that this excludes intermediate travel on the FTW portion, such as Rannoch to Fort William.
So much for the remote WHL communities doing their food shopping without an overnight stay in Fort William...
That’s not quite true- assuming that case numbers fall as expected, free travel throughout mainland Scotland is being allowed from 26 April as stated in the latest Scottish Government guidelines. This is why hotels and holiday accommodation are due to open on this date (otherwise it would be pointless). While this is not set in stone, the plan as I understand it is to allow free travel from other parts of the UK from the end of April or as soon as possible thereafter (as the First Minister suggested to Parliament last month), which explains the re-instatement of the Fort William sleeper- there certainly won’t be much demand from ‘essential’ travellers on that service, and there is no point running it if lockdown continues. That said, I’m not sure why it has filled up so quickly given that there is still so much uncertainty. Obviously if the Scottish government delays the return of leisure travel then the reintroduction of the other sleeper portions will also be put back. I think we are due a review soon in which the plan for the end of the month will be set out.

Island communities are being given the choice as to whether to stick with the same rules as the mainland, allowing free travel, or to continue with the travel ban from the mainland and the rest of the UK. Skye will probably follow the mainland as it’s very difficult to police travel to it otherwise, but nothing has been confirmed about other islands.

I believe that Scotrail have now introduced a temporary morning service with a spare class 156 unit from Rannoch to Fort William to replace the sleeper seated coach.
 
Last edited:

InOban

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From 26th April Scots will be allowed to travel anywhere in Scotland, but there is no date for crossborder travel.
 

paul1609

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Wittersham Kent
My understanding was that the plan is for mainland Scotland to move from level 4 to level 3 restrictions on 26 April, which still prohibits non-essential travel across local authority boundaries. Obviously lots of pent up demand for essential travel between London & Fort William in the last week of April...

Going back to the reopening of the seated coach, looking at RTT & National Rail journey planner, it does appear that this excludes intermediate travel on the FTW portion, such as Rannoch to Fort William.
So much for the remote WHL communities doing their food shopping without an overnight stay in Fort William...
I rather imagine the remote communities around Rannoch will still be doing their food shopping in Aberfeldy Co-op 35 miles about an hour by car like they have done for at least the last 50 years. The few people without cars will be looked after by those that do, its the norm in rural areas even here in Kent.
 

Bill57p9

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1 Dec 2019
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453
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Ayrshire
I believe that Scotrail have now introduced a temporary morning service with a spare class 156 unit from Rannoch to Fort William to replace the sleeper seated coach.
That was my point: ScotRail have felt the need (been pressured into or whatever) to provide a substitute service given it was the only way to allow a day trip to FTW following the withdrawal of the afternoon Mallaig/FTW to Glasgow. However according to RTT & National Rail the intermediate stops on the down FTW leg are set down only, and there are no plans to reintroduce the afternoon southbound SR service.

Thanks for educating me on the revised meaning of level 3: I had missed the easing of travel within Scotland.
 

MrEd

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13 Jan 2019
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587
Spot on - there's an awful lot of cars and motorbikes on that A9 road for it to only be people travelling within their local authority area!
Presumably day-trippers from the Central Belt? Otherwise where would they stay? (Not that I am naive enough to think that folk haven’t been travelling to holiday homes, whether their own or rented). I get the impression that enforcement of these rules by Police Scotland is slightly lax?

Not that I am for one second encouraging anyone to travel illegally in Scotland.
 

route101

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Spot on - there's an awful lot of cars and motorbikes on that A9 road for it to only be people travelling within their local authority area!
If its the A9 section in Highland Council area, then residents have a big council to play with. Don't really agree with the local authority rule but its not really enforced, I don't turn back if out on walk just because I crossed into East Renfrewshire.

As for sleeper, I hope to use it in the summer, hopefully catering will come back and the use of lounge car.
 

Butts

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Perhaps a nice gesture whilst the Lounge Car is closed would be to leave some complimentary drinks and nibbles in each Berth prior to people boarding or do they already do that? ?
 

Journeyman

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Perhaps a nice gesture whilst the Lounge Car is closed would be to leave some complimentary drinks and nibbles in each Berth prior to people boarding or do they already do that? ?
I was rather pleasantly surprised by this when I used the Newcastle to Amsterdam ferry. My cabin had a mini fridge in it with some very nice sparkling wine, amongst other things.
 

MrEd

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13 Jan 2019
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587
Perhaps a nice gesture whilst the Lounge Car is closed would be to leave some complimentary drinks and nibbles in each Berth prior to people boarding or do they already do that? ?
They leave a bottle of water in every cabin and a complimentary set of toiletries for first class but no snacks. I agree, perhaps they could at least leave some cookies and crisps as a free gift while catering is suspended.
 

Essexman

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Perhaps a nice gesture whilst the Lounge Car is closed would be to leave some complimentary drinks and nibbles in each Berth prior to people boarding or do they already do that? ?

I used the Night Riviera this week (business). They gave passengers a snack box and packet of biscuits when boarding. The buffet was open but passengers had to take food and drink to their berths. I had porridge for breakfast, brought to my berth as usual. I'd asked for orange juice but they didn't have any on the train, however when the attendant / steward (not sure of name used) brought my breakfast at 6am she had a bottle of orange juice that she'd got for me from Paddington station. I'm not sure that CS would give such service.
 

Butts

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I used the Night Riviera this week (business). They gave passengers a snack box and packet of biscuits when boarding. The buffet was open but passengers had to take food and drink to their berths. I had porridge for breakfast, brought to my berth as usual. I'd asked for orange juice but they didn't have any on the train, however when the attendant / steward (not sure of name used) brought my breakfast at 6am she had a bottle of orange juice that she'd got for me from Paddington station. I'm not sure that CS would give such service.

Bring back First to run the sleeper - Bargain Berths and great customer service :E

Do they have BB's on The Riviera ?

Or to any of the Train Managers !

Have they not heard of multi-tasking ?
 

MrEd

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13 Jan 2019
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587
I used the Night Riviera this week (business). They gave passengers a snack box and packet of biscuits when boarding. The buffet was open but passengers had to take food and drink to their berths. I had porridge for breakfast, brought to my berth as usual. I'd asked for orange juice but they didn't have any on the train, however when the attendant / steward (not sure of name used) brought my breakfast at 6am she had a bottle of orange juice that she'd got for me from Paddington station. I'm not sure that CS would give such service.
CS could definitely do some of those things- the snack box is a nice touch for the evening. That said, I think CS I think CS give everyone a free bottle of juice in the morning as standard and have been doing throughout the pandemic. Last time I was on (some months back now) standard class passengers just got juice and a muffin in the morning, while first had a choice between a bacon roll and a smoothie with their juice and got the muffin too. If you went in standard with the Inverness crew and they had spare bacon rolls they’d give you one anyway. Not that much different really.

I’ve heard that CS can’t offer a takeaway service because the Mk5 lounge cars do not have a buffet counter so have no protective screen between staff and customers. I don’t know whether that’s true but the lack of a proper buffet counter is a weakness of the Mk5 catering vehicle design.

I absolutely agree that it’s not the normal fun sleeper experience on either CS or the Riviera, but it’s probably much appreciated by those who have to use it.
 

6Z09

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19 Nov 2009
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Bring back First to run the sleeper - Bargain Berths and great customer service :E

Do they have BB's on The Riviera ?



Have they not heard of multi-tasking ?
Serve Coffee and Tea Multi tasking, no.
Strike ballot, yes.
 

route101

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I remember having the orange juice on the sleeper, they are not kept in fridge, warmish orange juice ! Yuck.

I remember breakfast being a muffin, not had bacon roll though.
 

norbitonflyer

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That said, I’m not sure why it has filled up so quickly given that there is still so much uncertainty.
CS have been very clever, and have kept bookings (and revenue stream) going by offering fully flexible (refundable) tickets. I booked in January for a train to Fort William in June, and another back from Inverness. (We intend to walk between the two, staying at B&Bs). If the rules applicable in June don't allow us to go to Scotland, (or we simply decide not to go) we can get a refund.
 

flitwickbeds

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19 Apr 2017
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The major difference between the railway and flights is that airline cabin crew have to be there for safety purposes by law, and so they may as well serve food and drink at the same time.
Also, am I correct in thinking that you need a fit to fly certificate (basically a negative test taken no more than 48 hours before flying) to take any plane at the moment? So everyone on the plane will be (pretty much guaranteed) covid-free. Nothing like that happens on any train, not even CS?

In addition it's very easy to clean a plane where everyone gets off at the same place. Get everyone off, clean, get everyone on. You can't do that on a train.
 

Journeyman

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Also, am I correct in thinking that you need a fit to fly certificate (basically a negative test taken no more than 48 hours before flying) to take any plane at the moment? So everyone on the plane will be (pretty much guaranteed) covid-free. Nothing like that happens on any train, not even CS?

In addition it's very easy to clean a plane where everyone gets off at the same place. Get everyone off, clean, get everyone on. You can't do that on a train.
I don't know if you need a COVID test for a domestic flight. Can anyone confirm?
 

trebor79

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Also, am I correct in thinking that you need a fit to fly certificate (basically a negative test taken no more than 48 hours before flying) to take any plane at the moment? So everyone on the plane will be (pretty much guaranteed) covid-free. Nothing like that happens on any train, not even CS?

In addition it's very easy to clean a plane where everyone gets off at the same place. Get everyone off, clean, get everyone on. You can't do that on a train.
Meh, the berths on the sleeper are only used once per journey, regardless of where a passenger joins or leaves. They are cleaned before the next journey.
The fit to fly thing is a total mess, I wouldn't assume that a flight is covid free. Not that I could give two hoots anyway.
 

side effect

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20 Jul 2015
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Because the worse thing about holidaying in Scotland is you have to go back home to the rush of London. Please God my next time in Scotland will be when I move into my new home, and have that to look forward to.
 

43 302

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Because the worse thing about holidaying in Scotland is you have to go back home to the rush of London. Please God my next time in Scotland will be when I move into my new home, and have that to look forward to.
If you live in London, isn't that true of anywhere you travel? :rolleyes:
 

Peter Sarf

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Because the worse thing about holidaying in Scotland is you have to go back home to the rush of London. Please God my next time in Scotland will be when I move into my new home, and have that to look forward to.
Gosh I know how you feel. I only have 5 years of increasingly complex rubbish to put up with. None of it related to actually doing my job. Also London is a rat race that I have slowly come to loathe and Croydon is getting rather rough ;).
If you live in London, isn't that true of anywhere you travel? :rolleyes:
True, and with that in mind, my granddaughter in Cardiff wants me to baby sit her :smile:.
 

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