[Mintona]

I'm planning to go on 4 sleepers in April with a friend on an ALR, and I was just wondering what the price was of the berths. I'm doing the Inverness sleeper twice, the Glasgow sleeper once and the Penzance sleeper once.
Thanks in advance, Alistair

[Jord]

Originally Posted by Mintona

I'm planning to go on 4 sleepers in April with a friend on an ALR, and I was just wondering what the price was of the berths. I'm doing the Inverness sleeper twice, the Glasgow sleeper once and the Penzance sleeper once.
Thanks in advance, Alistair

:O Not bothering with Aberdeen are we, i'm disgusted! lol

Originally Posted by Mintona

I'm planning to go on 4 sleepers in April with a friend on an ALR, and I was just wondering what the price was of the berths. I'm doing the Inverness sleeper twice, the Glasgow sleeper once and the Penzance sleeper once.
Thanks in advance, Alistair

Can only speak for First Scotrail but it's the following:

Standard Class
Single berth is £38 for adult
Single berth is £16 for child
Caledonian Solo is £51 which gives you a twin berth cabin to yourself in SC

First Class
£49 upgrade, IIRC.

[yorkie]

I recommend going in late May or June if possible - it then gets dark at about 10:30 to 11pm!

Also, if you are doing Scotland a lot, you can save a fortune by getting a Freedom of Scotland, which is £92 for 8 in 15 days which works out at £11.50 per day! The cost of an ALR is considerably higher.

If you can get Bargain Berths, they are £19-£49 and are inclusive of berth and travel.

[me123]

Originally Posted by yorkie

Also, if you are doing Scotland a lot, you can save a fortune by getting a Freedom of Scotland, which is £92 for 8 in 15 days which works out at £11.50 per day! The cost of an ALR is considerably higher.

You can also get a 4-in-8 rover, and could extend your ALR by adding this on beforehand. You would be purchasing your ALR, FOS, Berths and an upward sleeper ticket, but you could get a lot more done.

Out of curiosity, do you get railcard discounts on berths, or is it just the tickets?

[Wayfarer Sam]

I am going with Mintona. We are not doing too much in Scotland. The main reason for the sleeper is to keep moving overnight. We are provisionally planned for April 08.

Thanks for the clarification.

[yorkie]

Originally Posted by me123

Out of curiosity, do you get railcard discounts on berths, or is it just the tickets?

No - think of the berth as a (very very cramped) budget hotel cost (and imagine being woken at 6am with a loud knock!)! You also need a ticket, so it aint cheap. And the price of a berth is per person, 2 people = 2 berths = 1 cabin.

[me123]

Thanks Yorkie. I presume you don't like the sleeper?

[gordonthemoron]

UK sleepers are fairly poor (as they're rather old) in comparison to DB ones

[paul1609]

I'd recommend doing the Fort William sleeper if only for the staff! Theres something special about calling the request stop at Corrour to climb on the train in the middle of Rannoch Moor. Out of interest has anyone ever sucessfully booked a bargain berth on the west highland line?

[me123]

A quik search from Crainlarich over a 2 month period gives me:

Crianlarich London Euston Tue. 26 Feb. 2008 - 22:05 £19.00

Talk about restrictive!

I think the problem is that there're so many stations and, IIRC, the train only has 4 carriages!

[paul1609]

Ah Crianlarich I spent new years eve in the Rod and Gun there very friendly, I was a local within 30 mins!
Seriously though I bet you cant get a return berth to London Euston within a reasonable time.
I think that bargain berths are notional offers as far as the WHL is concerned!

[yorkie]

Originally Posted by me123

Thanks Yorkie. I presume you don't like the sleeper?

Oh, I loved it when the 37s were on (until June 2006)!

I don't think I could justify the expense any more. It's just not got the same appeal.

Originally Posted by paul1609

I'd recommend doing the Fort William sleeper if only for the staff! Theres something special about calling the request stop at Corrour to climb on the train in the middle of Rannoch Moor. Out of interest has anyone ever sucessfully booked a bargain berth on the west highland line?

Very special line. And yes, there are BBs on this route but very few and they get snapped up as soon as they go on sale.

I remember checking constantly for BBs on the penultimate week of 37s, which was also a bank holiday, and it paid off as I got 2 £19 BBs! When it came to the day we had a group of about 8 (?) of us, the train was completely wedged with people standing in the guards van. Most of us squeezed into the front vestibule until it got dark (around Hellensbrough I think!). The mistake was getting off at Preston; we really should have booked GNER £10 singles from London and stayed on. Getting off at Preston at 4am waiting for a 158 that isn't due 'til after 6am isn't nice.

Another memorable occasion was the Oban trip, when we had exclusive use of front vestibules as none of the other bashers had berths, 'Ginger Fly' tried to sneak up front but was kicked out by a steward and sent back to the rear

[paul1609]

personally i think the 67s have been a major improvement and have settled down well now with reliability that could only have been dreamed of with the 37s. The slightly slower schedule doesnt really matter that much to 99% of the users either.

[me123]

^ yup. It's a shame that 37s aren't on, they're great locos and very fitting ofr the WHL. But 67s are doing a good job, and are still better locos than, say, 66s!