Apologies if I have missed it ‘up thread’ but could somebody provide a quick summary of how the sleeper staff actually work?
I am imagining (1) ‘Sleeping Car Attendants’, who will actually check in passengers on the platform and then (whilst the train is running) be on duty to respond to calls, fire alarms, etc. in the sleeping cars and bring some passengers refreshments in the morning. (2) Lounge/buffet staff whose main role is ‘catering’ rather than looking after the actual sleeping cars, and (3) a ‘Train Manager’ who is largely an operational ‘guard’ in terms of despatch, liaison with the driver, contacting control and disseminating information within the train, probably via the other staff (other than in the seated coaches) I am not clear if the Train Manager has any direct authority over other on-board staff, e.g. in instructing them to lock vehicles out of use because of defective lighting, for instance. Is the Train Manager expected to perform any direct customer service roles if things get ‘busy’?
This may be all wrong. I also get that with portion working there may be distinct ‘teams’ over the sections where trains are running in combined formations.
It would be great to have a concise explanation from somebody who actually knows.
Assuming that the train has a full complement of staff, there should be one sleeping car attendant (called a sleeper host) for every two sleeping cars. Their job, as you say, is to check passengers in and to respond to calls throughout the night, and also to inform passengers of any delays. When they are otherwise unoccupied, they should assist the chief steward/team leader with the evening service in the lounge car. They also arrange breakfast for sleeper passengers, collecting the breakfast order cards, bringing it to passengers’ cabins or taking trays through to the lounge car as appropriate.
The lounge car is usually staffed by a chief steward, known as a team leader, who takes orders, cooks hot meals and serves passengers both at their tables and at the buffet counter. As this is quite a big ask, it is normal for him to be assisted by at least one of the sleeping car hosts, perhaps more once check-in duties are finished and breakfast order cards have been collected; on a busy down Highlander, it’s not uncommon to see all the sleeping car hosts assisting the team leader for the main dinner service. The team leader is also responsible for stock control in the lounge car and needs to cash up and perform the stock check (completing paperwork to this effect) at the end of service.
The train also has a train manager who is, as you say, a guard, fulfilling all the operational and safety-critical duties of a guard working with hauled stock at any other passenger TOC, including doors, dispatch and the brake continuity test. I don’t think that CS train managers perform revenue duties, though, as the checking of tickets (and selling of walk-up tickets, where required) is, I think, the duty of the hosts on check-in. Possibly the train managers on the Edinburgh-Inverness and Edinburgh-Fort William portions can sell local tickets between Edinburgh-Fort William and Kingussie-Inverness, where the train can be used as a day train, but I’m not sure about this. I don’t think the train managers between Edinburgh and London normally perform any revenue duties.
The train manager will usually walk through the seated coach and lounge car to inform passengers in the event of major disruption; generally one of the hosts will then be sent through the sleeping cars to inform guests in their berths of disruption; I’ve never myself known a train manager to knock on berth doors. Obviously the train manager is responsible for safety, so if a coach has to be taken out of service or locked out of use, it will generally be at his instruction and the on-board hosts will have to uphold this. The customer service (e.g. dinner and breakfast, whether berths should be reallocated etc.) is generally organised by the team leader and hosts, and the train manager will not normally intervene in this area except as a last resort. In particular, as to how the lounge car service is run, and whether the lounge is to be partially or fully restricted to first class, are at the discretion of the team leader, not the train manager.
I have no knowledge of the staffing patterns on the Lowlander, but on the Highlander, one train manager works the train between Euston and Edinburgh. The train then splits into three portions, with the Inverness portion worked by one train manager between Edinburgh and Inverness, the Aberdeen portion worked by one train manager between Edinburgh and Aberdeen, and the Fort William portion worked by one train manager as far as Dalmuir, and another from Dalmuir to Fort William. In the south, the reverse happens. On Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays northbound, the London-Edinburgh section is worked by a London train manager, and on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays northbound, an Edinburgh (south link) train manager (these men then work south the following night, in an alternating pattern). The train managers on the Aberdeen and Inverness portions are always Edinburgh based (north link); the Fort William portion train managers are Dalmuir (north side of Glasgow) based. With regard to the hosts and team leaders, the normal pattern is: Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday nights northbound, London-based hosts and team leaders work to Aberdeen and Inverness, and back south the following night; on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays northbound, Aberdeen and Inverness hosts and team leaders work all the way back home, after working south to London the previous evening. With the Fort William portion, the through sleeping cars are manned by a London host Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays northbound, who works south the next night, and a Fort William host Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays northbound, who has worked south the previous night. The lounge car for the Fort William portion is added/detached at Edinburgh, and this is always worked by a Fort William based team leader, working south to Edinburgh in the evening, then back to Fort William on the same lounge car the following morning.
Sorry that this is quite a long and complex explanation, but I hope this helps with your question.
, at the moment it really does look like CS have given up on trying to provide a proper service.
