Caledonian sleeper - Oban diversions

[evotista]

I'm thinking of travelling on the Caledonian sleeper in the seats next month when the Oban diversions are occurring, but only doing so from Glasgow Queen St to Oban. Having never travelled in the seats before, please could anyone answer the following (which I've also asked CS customer services about but have yet to get a response)

1 - Is it OK to use a ordinary Off peak Day return ticket from Glasgow Queen St to Oban (£29) when joining the Caledonian Sleeper at Queen St low level at 05:48 on the Saturday morning?

2 - I understand seat reservations are compulsory, how do I go about making one on the sleeper?...can this be done at any staffed station when buying the off peak ticket above...or because it's the sleeper do I need to talk direct to CS customer service themselves, even though I'm not buying a ticket from them?

As a side note, Webtis based booking sites show the times of the train but say the off peak return ticket is not a valid fare

NRE website shows the time of the train, but shows no fare information whatsoever

The CS website is pretty useless for this type of a question and doesn't seem to address anywhere if it is OK to use the Oban train (usually Fort William train) as an "ordinary" train as such.

Any help appreciated

 

[najaB]

Any help appreciated

1. Yes.

2. Not required - reservations are only required for destinations south of Edinburgh.

 

[evotista]

NajaB,

Thanks for this...I understand now that reservations aren't required north of Edinburgh but I would still like to make one, so the question stands can ordinary stations book me a seat or must it be done via CS?

 

[najaB]

NajaB,

Thanks for this...I understand now that reservations aren't required north of Edinburgh but I would still like to make one, so the question stands can ordinary stations book me a seat or must it be done via CS?

I don't think it can be done - there was a thread recently about it and the poster wasn't able to get either CS or Scotrail to make the reservation.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don't think it can be done - there was a thread recently about it and the poster wasn't able to get either CS or Scotrail to make the reservation.

Possibly because it would block a long distance reservation, whereas the short distance passengers wouldn't whine if they were sent into the lounge car?

 

[najaB]

Possibly because it would block a long distance reservation, whereas the short distance passengers wouldn't whine if they were sent into the lounge car?

That is a reasonable deduction.

 

[paul1609]

Unless Oban attracts significantly more customers than Fort William the it's unlikely to be a problem my last winter trip had 8 people on a southbound train.

 

[causton]

Unless Oban attracts significantly more customers than Fort William the it's unlikely to be a problem my last winter trip had 8 people on a southbound train.

I think it might do because of the potential for rare traction and just because it is a bit rare, certainly a lot of people I know have booked on it!

 

[Hadders]

You can get a seat reservation at any station that can do reservations.

I've frequently had seat reservations for the seats between Fort William and Edinburgh.

 

[najaB]

You can get a seat reservation at any station that can do reservations.

I've frequently had seat reservations for the seats between Fort William and Edinburgh.

Have you had one since the franchise change? We've had at least on poster saying that he was told it wasn't possible.

 

[Hadders]

Have you had one since the franchise change? We've had at least on poster saying that he was told it wasn't possible.

Yes! My last one was back in September after the franchise change. What you don't seem to be able to do is book it on-line, which you could do when First Scotrail operated it.

 

[causton]

I have definitely issued at least one reservation, think it was FTW - GLQ