Why is there not so much interest in the Night Riviera compared to the Caledonian Sleeper?

[Kingsman]

It's a curiousity to me that the Caledonian sleepers now have threads going back 279 pages, and yet there is very little about the Cornwall train, pleasantly refurbished, running efficiently, now with functioning lounge bar again (possibly the only legal functioning indoor bar in England?)

 

[MrEd]

It's a curiousity to me that the Caledonian sleepers now have threads going back 279 pages, and yet there is very little about the Cornwall train, pleasantly refurbished, running efficiently, now with functioning lounge bar again (possibly the only legal functioning indoor bar in England?)

I‘m not sure why the Cornwall train sees less interest- perhaps it’s because the sleeper services which have historically drawn the most attention from enthusiasts are those to Inverness and Fort William because of their interesting and varied traction (perhaps less so now than in the past), long journey times (for UK trains) and very scenic routes- the Fort William route in particular has some truly fantastic views on the West Highland Line which can be enjoyed at any time of year. There’s also more that can go wrong on the Highland route because it involves locomotive and formation changes as well as some complex/unusual routes, and probably more gossip because of this. I for one- as both an enthusiast and a lover of sleeper train travel- have never been drawn to either the Lowlander, the Aberdeen portion or the Riviera as I have the two Highland destinations.

Is the reinstatement of a sit-in lounge car on the Riviera a very new development? The last I heard was that it was takeaway only (a buffet car, in effect) due to Covid but that might have changed recently. I’m not sure what legal loophole can be used to allow an indoor service of food and alcohol on a train after 10pm? There’s no sign of the Caledonian Sleeper lounge car returning any time soon (sad but probably to be expected). Presumably passengers still have to wear masks except when eating and drinking, and the capacity is much reduced?

 

[JonathanH]

It's a curiousity to me that the Caledonian sleepers now have threads going back 279 pages, and yet there is very little about the Cornwall train, pleasantly refurbished, running efficiently, now with functioning lounge bar again (possibly the only legal functioning indoor bar in England?)

There is actually a fairly long running thread on the Cornish sleeper, it is just in the Traction folder rather than the main UK railway discussion folder
https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...d-gwr-class-57-updates-from-long-rock.127881/

 

[Adam0984]

The Cornish sleeper hasn't had the new trains and the teething problems they had. The Night Riviera just keeps ticking along

 

[ainsworth74]

As mentioned there is a thread in Traction and Rolling Stock which has been linked above. It's located there as the biggest news that effected the Night Riviera recently was the rolling stock refurbishment so logically, as it relates to rolling stock, it made sense to be in Traction & Rolling Stock. As such I think we can lock this thread now.