rosschap
Member
Hey everyone, I had somewhat of a unique experience back in April. I wonder, have any of you alighted/boarded the Highland Caledonian Sleeper at Edinburgh Waverley?
For my birthday in April I decided to go on my first ever sleeper journey whilst I had a few days off. On the Monday I went up to Euston in the evening and took the 2115 highland sleeper on the Inverness portion, in a 1st class berth. This was only a few days after the Serco takeover from Scotrail so I was interested to see what changes they had implemented. I was booked onto coach J (?) but was told when boarding that I was moved to coach L. It surfaced that coach J was empty - this was presumably done so that all of the passengers were in one coach. This was OK as the opposite berth was vacant until someone entered it at Crewe and I could hear everything!
Overall I found it to be a very enjoyable and civilised experience - those of you who have travelled it before will probably agree. Haggis neeps & tatties with whisky was very nice. However, my sleep was less than great. In fact, when the sleeper pulled in to Waverley at around 4am to couple with the Aberdeen and Fort William portions, I had only just got to sleep. Indeed, waking up travelling in the opposite direction is rather odd!
The newly introduced "highland breakfast" never actually surfaced. The steward was very apologetic in telling me that he had accidentally given my breakfast to someone else. In the end I ended up with a Bacon roll.
One nice thing at Inverness is the new "guest services centre" first class lounge located just opposite the station. The brand new showers were a godsend and I freshened up before my 10am departure to Thurso.
Fast forward 6 hours, during which I had a fantastic time on the Far North Line going up, I boarded the 4pm departure back to Inverness. I was due to change there and Stirling to get to Edinburgh where I was supposed to stay the night. My train was delayed at Georgemas Junction by a freight train by about 15 minutes and despite not stopping at many of the request stops, failed to make up time. I had only left 5-10 minutes for my connection at Inverness and Stirling. This sounds foolish, but in reality these were all the last trains of the day.
So I missed the connection at Inverness and the guard took me and one other passenger with a connection to the station staff. The only other train departing that evening in our direction was the Sleeper. So, after having a word with the seated car guard, we were allowed on the sleeper (with my advance ticket). I was told that I could alight at Edinburgh. I knew that generally you can't do this but I thought I would wait to see how it played out. I wonder what would happen if I had missed the sleeper. Would Scotrail have put me in a hotel in Inverness for the night?
The atmosphere of the seated car was very different. It was quite empty, very run down and nobody ordered any food or drink, most people just laid across 2 or 3 seats and slept.
5 1/2 to 6 hours later at around 2am (I think I underestimated the size of Scotland) I arrived in Edinburgh Waverley station. The other passenger who missed their connection at Inverness got off around Dunblane, and either Scotrail or the Sleeper had arranged a taxi to take her the rest of the journey to her final destination.
I had to wait a while for the train to get into a platform and couple before the guard (by this time someone else) let me off. I had never been to this station before and he said "right the exit's that way". I was stuck in the station for around 20-30 minutes trying all the exits. Obviously the station was closed to the public at this time as usually no-one is allowed to board or alight the sleeper here. The only people that were there were cleaning & Network Rail Staff. The first guard on the sleeper had told me that they had spoken to staff at Waverley to let them know I would be alighting - either this was a lie or the message didn't get through.
I started to get really worried that I was going to be locked in this station. Eventually I found someone and told him I NEED TO GET OUT. He asked what I was still doing there and I explained the whole situation. He kindly opened an exit for me on the other side that my hotel was. Another 20 minutes walk later and I finally arrived at my hotel at around 3am - I was absolutely exhausted.
I wonder, if anyone else has alighted or boarded the Highland sleeper at Edinburgh?
Overall, I enjoyed the adventure. I would like to try the FGW sleeper, but might not use the Caledonian that much, however I'm looking forward to trying their new sleeper cars coming "in 2018".
For my birthday in April I decided to go on my first ever sleeper journey whilst I had a few days off. On the Monday I went up to Euston in the evening and took the 2115 highland sleeper on the Inverness portion, in a 1st class berth. This was only a few days after the Serco takeover from Scotrail so I was interested to see what changes they had implemented. I was booked onto coach J (?) but was told when boarding that I was moved to coach L. It surfaced that coach J was empty - this was presumably done so that all of the passengers were in one coach. This was OK as the opposite berth was vacant until someone entered it at Crewe and I could hear everything!
Overall I found it to be a very enjoyable and civilised experience - those of you who have travelled it before will probably agree. Haggis neeps & tatties with whisky was very nice. However, my sleep was less than great. In fact, when the sleeper pulled in to Waverley at around 4am to couple with the Aberdeen and Fort William portions, I had only just got to sleep. Indeed, waking up travelling in the opposite direction is rather odd!
The newly introduced "highland breakfast" never actually surfaced. The steward was very apologetic in telling me that he had accidentally given my breakfast to someone else. In the end I ended up with a Bacon roll.
One nice thing at Inverness is the new "guest services centre" first class lounge located just opposite the station. The brand new showers were a godsend and I freshened up before my 10am departure to Thurso.
Fast forward 6 hours, during which I had a fantastic time on the Far North Line going up, I boarded the 4pm departure back to Inverness. I was due to change there and Stirling to get to Edinburgh where I was supposed to stay the night. My train was delayed at Georgemas Junction by a freight train by about 15 minutes and despite not stopping at many of the request stops, failed to make up time. I had only left 5-10 minutes for my connection at Inverness and Stirling. This sounds foolish, but in reality these were all the last trains of the day.
So I missed the connection at Inverness and the guard took me and one other passenger with a connection to the station staff. The only other train departing that evening in our direction was the Sleeper. So, after having a word with the seated car guard, we were allowed on the sleeper (with my advance ticket). I was told that I could alight at Edinburgh. I knew that generally you can't do this but I thought I would wait to see how it played out. I wonder what would happen if I had missed the sleeper. Would Scotrail have put me in a hotel in Inverness for the night?
The atmosphere of the seated car was very different. It was quite empty, very run down and nobody ordered any food or drink, most people just laid across 2 or 3 seats and slept.
5 1/2 to 6 hours later at around 2am (I think I underestimated the size of Scotland) I arrived in Edinburgh Waverley station. The other passenger who missed their connection at Inverness got off around Dunblane, and either Scotrail or the Sleeper had arranged a taxi to take her the rest of the journey to her final destination.
I had to wait a while for the train to get into a platform and couple before the guard (by this time someone else) let me off. I had never been to this station before and he said "right the exit's that way". I was stuck in the station for around 20-30 minutes trying all the exits. Obviously the station was closed to the public at this time as usually no-one is allowed to board or alight the sleeper here. The only people that were there were cleaning & Network Rail Staff. The first guard on the sleeper had told me that they had spoken to staff at Waverley to let them know I would be alighting - either this was a lie or the message didn't get through.
I started to get really worried that I was going to be locked in this station. Eventually I found someone and told him I NEED TO GET OUT. He asked what I was still doing there and I explained the whole situation. He kindly opened an exit for me on the other side that my hotel was. Another 20 minutes walk later and I finally arrived at my hotel at around 3am - I was absolutely exhausted.
I wonder, if anyone else has alighted or boarded the Highland sleeper at Edinburgh?
Overall, I enjoyed the adventure. I would like to try the FGW sleeper, but might not use the Caledonian that much, however I'm looking forward to trying their new sleeper cars coming "in 2018".