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A delayed entry into this discussion: I travelled on the CS from Inverness to Euston Sunday evening diverting via Aberdeen. Had a meal on in the dining car and found that the beef bourginon was again off the menu - why - they are changing the menu again. Not a matter of deep importance but of lack of organisation. I enjoyed the venison replacement. In fact I was well away to sleep before Dundee and for once I was not kept awake by whining ghostly noises when under wires and had a great night until woken by the steward with my breakfast (way too early) just before Rugby. Having also travelled the Night Riviera recently, I have to say that the refurbished rooms on the NR are amazingly so much better than the CS rooms. When the CS stock is refurbished it will be a vast improvement I can assure CS customers. There are some small things that I think each of the sleeper set-ups can take from each other. CS has a hotel type tick list for breakfast and wake up time that you place outside the door of each cabin within 30 mins of departure. NR could take up this. NR has a more personalised welcome onto the sleeper especially at Paddington. CS could do well to copy it.
Travelling up to Inverness I was in cabin 1 in my carriage. Noisy. Sleep up to Edinburgh was impossible because of what I perceive as this ghostly whining noise you hear when the train is under wires. I have mentioned this before in other posts in this thread. After Edinburgh I don't hear this noise and therefore relax and sleep.
Kickout time at terminus. I realise that it is important that for many on arrival in London, and the Scottish terminals that people need to move on for holiday and business reasons. But it seems to me that the train companies are rather too eager to get rid of their passengers the moment of arrival. Operational requirements at some destinations may need to have the platforms available for other services. Timetables give you one minute to get off the trains on arrival, but as I saw at Euston on Monday morning, the lowland CS at Platform one had been coupled up for transfer to (Wherever) for servicing, as I disembarked from carriage N on my Inverness sleeper. Is there really such a need to boot off passengers so early at the terminals if the trains are on time?
I rather think that 20-30 minutes to wake up a passenger and for them to prepare to get off the train, at their destination is sufficient. At terminals there are now facilities to shower, breakfast and prepare for the day.
A restructure of the needs and requirements of Sleeper passengers should be looked at, especially at terminal stations.
Travelling up to Inverness I was in cabin 1 in my carriage. Noisy. Sleep up to Edinburgh was impossible because of what I perceive as this ghostly whining noise you hear when the train is under wires. I have mentioned this before in other posts in this thread. After Edinburgh I don't hear this noise and therefore relax and sleep.
Kickout time at terminus. I realise that it is important that for many on arrival in London, and the Scottish terminals that people need to move on for holiday and business reasons. But it seems to me that the train companies are rather too eager to get rid of their passengers the moment of arrival. Operational requirements at some destinations may need to have the platforms available for other services. Timetables give you one minute to get off the trains on arrival, but as I saw at Euston on Monday morning, the lowland CS at Platform one had been coupled up for transfer to (Wherever) for servicing, as I disembarked from carriage N on my Inverness sleeper. Is there really such a need to boot off passengers so early at the terminals if the trains are on time?
I rather think that 20-30 minutes to wake up a passenger and for them to prepare to get off the train, at their destination is sufficient. At terminals there are now facilities to shower, breakfast and prepare for the day.
A restructure of the needs and requirements of Sleeper passengers should be looked at, especially at terminal stations.
