Caledonian Sleeper

[cactustwirly]

If they had a smoking room on The Sleeper it would be a positive addition to a 10 Hour Plus Journey.

Cigars and Cognac anyone ?

Hope all the staff are non-smokers - or is there a "Crianlarich Job" somewhere on the way up/down.

Nope that sounds like an absolutely horrible addition, we should be discouraging smoking in this country, not encouraging it!

 

[LancasterRed]

I've just seen it myself for the first time, from my window flying through Lancaster.

I'm happy to see that at least it isn't in Doncaster yet!*

*barring borderline divine intervention

 

[Scotrail84]

Nope that sounds like an absolutely horrible addition, we should be discouraging smoking in this country, not encouraging it!

There should be smoking and non smoking pubs, then you have the choice, not sure about smoking on trains though.

 

[Potatopotato]

There should be smoking and non smoking pubs, then you have the choice, not sure about smoking on trains though.

But what about the effects on workers in the pub who might not have a choice.

 

[RLBH]

If they had a smoking room on The Sleeper it would be a positive addition to a 10 Hour Plus Journey.

Not for the vast majority of people who can't abide smoking. If you can't cope with ten hours without sticking some burning leaves in your mouth to inhale toxic fumes, you should probably make some lifestyle changes.

If you absolutely must smoke, go outside and as far downwind of anyone still in possession of a sense of smell and working lungs as possible.

But what about the effects on workers in the pub who might not have a choice.

Gas masks? That might attract the wrong clientele, though.

 

[adamello]

If they had a smoking room on The Sleeper it would be a positive addition to a 10 Hour Plus Journey.

Cigars and Cognac anyone ?

Hope all the staff are non-smokers - or is there a "Crianlarich Job" somewhere on the way up/down.

Its a SLEEPER train, do you often need to get up during the night for a puff?

 

[38Cto15E]

For those who advocate smoking on the sleeper, think TAUNTON.

 

[rick pike]

For those who advocate smoking on the sleeper, think TAUNTON.

The fire onboard a sleeper in the 70s?
I thought that was was caused by bedding placed against a heater.

 

[BRX]

Looks like all the services managed to arrive on time this morning, with the exception of the Edinburgh portion being 20 mins late.

 

[al78]

Its a SLEEPER train, do you often need to get up during the night for a puff?

You don't tend to board the train then immediately go to bed and sleep. There is a couple of hours of lounging time where I can see a smoker would like a puff, not unlike someone appreciating a glass of wine or spirit before retiring for the night.

 

[al78]

Not for the vast majority of people who can't abide smoking. If you can't cope with ten hours without sticking some burning leaves in your mouth to inhale toxic fumes, you should probably make some lifestyle changes.

If you absolutely must smoke, go outside and as far downwind of anyone still in possession of a sense of smell and working lungs as possible.

Gas masks? That might attract the wrong clientele, though.

I think it has more to do with nicotine addiction that lifestyle issues, but the problem with the sleeper is there is no convenient outside space or segregated smoking room, so no way for someone to smoke without inflicting the byproducts on other people. It would not be practical/reasonable to allow smoking on the sleeper without adding a smoking carriage, which in itself may not be feasible.

 

[Highlandspring]

Looks like all the services managed to arrive on time this morning, with the exception of the Edinburgh portion being 20 mins late.

More problems of the same sort with the Carstairs split that caused bother on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings...

 

[BRX]

More problems of the same sort with the Carstairs split that caused bother on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings...

Are they mechanical or electronics related problems?

 

[theshillito]

It would not be practical/reasonable to allow smoking on the sleeper without adding a smoking carriage

I was wondering about the small standing only smoking rooms on the shinkansen in Japan and seems they're all but gone at this point (smoking carriages and rooms being phased out by early next year ready for the Olympics) but that's an alternative. I don't think it should be done though, because the last thing that should happen is money spent on encouraging smokers, but considering the the cost of the double room, maybe the travellers are the sort to want to enjoy expensive cigars in the evening

 

[BRX]

The lounge cars should have a wee outside balcony like the Royal Scotsman, and this problem would be solved

 

[theshillito]

The lounge cars should have a wee outside balcony like the Royal Scotsman, and this problem would be solved

hmmm...£400 for a double on the sleeper vs £6000 for a double on the Royal Scotsman for the balcony. Smoking is expensive!!!

 

[RLBH]

I think it has more to do with nicotine addiction that lifestyle issues, but the problem with the sleeper is there is no convenient outside space or segregated smoking room, so no way for someone to smoke without inflicting the byproducts on other people. It would not be practical/reasonable to allow smoking on the sleeper without adding a smoking carriage, which in itself may not be feasible.

Which is precisely the sort of lifestyle choice that needs to be reconsidered. Nobody is forced to smoke, there was at some point a voluntary decision to start, and it can be (and is) stopped. Anyone whinging about not being able to pursue their actively detrimental habit, needs to get rid of the habit rather than find ways to force it on other people.

In this context, the lack of an outside smoking area on the sleeper is as much of a problem as the lack of an outside smoking area on a Boeing 747. Slap on some patches, and have done with it. Preferably forever.

Although I suppose you could convert Pacers to smoking carriages. No gangways, so the smokers can't bother other passengers, and they're scrap anyway so the fact that they'll be contaminated by noxious gases doesn't really matter.

 

[33Hz]

Sounds like night 2 was only marginally better than night 1...

https://www.ft.com/content/531dcd24-6b65-11e9-9ff9-8c855179f1c4

It is hard to say precisely when on Monday the promise of revived romance aboard Britain’s oldest night train came closest to derailing. Perhaps it was at 11pm when, with no train to be seen, the first class lounge at Euston station shut its doors. Passengers who had been planning to board the newly relaunched Caledonian Sleeper at 10pm for haggis and a nightcap plodded instead on to Euston’s cold and emptying concourse. Perhaps it came at about 11.30pm, in Upper Crust, the only station café still open. The senior communications officer from Serco, the outsourcing giant that runs the service, found himself positioned beside the tills, repeatedly tapping the payment machine with his credit card as passengers lined up for a consolation cup of tea and/or baguette. Or perhaps it came at about midnight, when Upper Crust shut too, and our shiny new train to Scotland was still stuck at a rail depot in Wembley. “If the old train were sitting at the next platform ready to go, we’d all get on it,” said Michael Steed, a tax consultant from Kent who had meetings in Edinburgh the next morning. By 1am, all 16 gleaming carriages of the sleeper had finally rolled in at platform 15 and passengers were invited to board. The singular mix of weary resignation and wry humour that clings like wet leaves to the UK’s rail network turned fleetingly to hope. Now, we were stepping into a new chapter for British sleeper trains, three hours after the doors were due to open, a year after the planned launch of the new carriages — and 145 years after rail travellers first snored their way between Scotland and England.

Some pretty disgruntled passengers last night as well...

https://twitter.com/BrooklynMND/status/1123719073060331527

I booked us a swanky train ride to London tonight, each in a little private room with a private bathroom and shower. My room was f***** up so they are making us share a room with no private bath and shower. @CalSleeper I am so disappointed in this service.

https://twitter.com/flamingredhead/status/1123728917095944193

@CalSleeper The First Club single room I booked was ‘locked off’, so you’ve moved me to this one, with no explanation, no apology, and no promised toiletries... towels look crumpled and (shudder) possibly used. Luxury? You’re joking, right? Shoulda just booked the red-eye...

https://twitter.com/samoore/status/1123830218429542401

Now I know why @calSleeper gives you ear plugs: it’s to slightly quieten the noise from the fire alarm that has been triggered in error by the cabin next door when you are trying to eat your breakfast.

 

[Deafdoggie]

It's an interesting question actually, ignoring current routes, on any main line, what stations do have platforms can take a full 16 car sleeper. In regular service:

Edinburgh Waverley
Carstairs
Carlisle
Preston
Crewe
Watford Junction
Newcastle
Doncaster

Any others ?

Fairly sure Rhyl could & Chester possibly.

 

[cactustwirly]

There should be smoking and non smoking pubs, then you have the choice, not sure about smoking on trains though.

No there shouldn't, if you really need to, go outside.

 

[InOban]

While it would be illegal to permit smoking anywhere on the train, and usually in the station also, is vaping allowed so that the addicts can get their nicotine fix?

 

[221129]

While it would be illegal to permit smoking anywhere on the train, and usually in the station also, is vaping allowed so that the addicts can get their nicotine fix?

No...

 

[modernrail]

My review of the service, Euston to Glasgow on Wednesday night.
1. Messaged to ask whether the train would definitely be available to board at 10pm. Was assured it would be. It wasn't. Boarded at 11pm. Really annoying.
2. Euston really is a dreadful little hole. Not the sleepers' fault but how amazing it would be if they could find a way to run it out of St Pancras. However, it is the sleepers' fault it they advertise and make a song and dance about 10pm boarding and can't deliver it.
3. My restaurant didn't have quite a lot of the alcohol selection. Need to sort their ordering and logistics out.
4. The service was painfully slow in the restaurant with passengers getting really annoyed. One polite guy must have put his hand up 50 times to no avail. They need to change how the staff run the service.
5. The train in general looks nice inside. Those corridors do feel even narrower though.
6. The cabins are full of errors as follows.
7. The width of the beds feels smaller than the old stock. There is plenty of floor space, they could have had quite a bit of a wider bed. Massive error and really affected ability to get the sleep.
8. The cabin was far too hot. I had it on the lowest setting and had to take the duvet out of the cover and was still far too hot. In contrast the corridors were freezing. Lord knows how they have managed to achieve that screw up.
9. The shower bracket is in the wrong place. It is over the toilet so you have to pick it out of the bracket and hold it over yourself. Unforgivable as a basic design error.
10. Shower pressure was poor and the water was cold. I use much older sleeper stock in Sweden and the shower is great.
11. If train is on some camber, water doesn't drain. I spotted it just before it flooded the main cabin. That is going to happen. Drain plug in wrong place, door lip not big enough and floor wrong shape to allow for draining. Get ready for smelly musty carpets.
12. No hangers or shelves in the room. Why??? Really stupid.
13. The lighting consoles seem to me big and unnecessarily intrusive. Can't believe there wasn't a better design option.
14. This one is a classic. Somebody has decided people need room service. There is an intercom button next to a light switch. Most people including me seemed to hit it by accident. It is noisy in your cabin and you can't cancel it. It is noisy in the stewards room at the end of the cabin. The guy in the end cabin didn't get any sleep because of the noise. You don't need room service in the evening on the sleeper. If you really want to provide it just use paper and pen or smartpads in the restaurant. It is also going to drive the staff mad. Really stupid and my favourite for feature that will be switched off in 2 months. The mind boggles as to how they didn't see that one coming.
15. It doesn't feel much quieter than the old train. A bit perhaps.
16. Now the really big one. I didn't sleep. You feel every bit of poor track, the movements are all jerky so no rythmn. I might even say it is worse that the old train although it doesn't have bit where the carriages pulling up the slack from a standing start at least. They need to keep it on the smoother fasts at all costs. Really disappointing they have not got this right.
17. There is a pointless light beneath the toilet that you don't seem to be able to switch off, is really bright and lights up the door frame like a Christmas tree. Really stupid. I don't need illuminated items at thigh level in the bogging area.
18. They seem to have a night light in white around one of the switches that you can't turn off. It is really white and annoying. Is it a safety requirement to have a night light you can't switch off in a sleeper cabin?

Basically it is abundantly clear that they didn't get anybody to sleep in and use a mock up before spending millions on these trains. I love sleepers but this could have been so much better. They should have focussed less on the hotel on wheels guff and more on reducing annoyances to the minimum.

 

[ChiefPlanner]

Basically it is abundantly clear that they didn't get anybody to sleep in and use a mock up before spending millions on these trains.

Apparently , when BR MK1 sleepers were overhauled at Swindon (in the last century obviously) , a serious test run was done , not just for the obvious mechanical reasons , but for ambience.

People would ride in the individual cabins , each one done carefully at speed - looking out for annoying rattles , loose panelling etc , - the sort of thing that would drive a passenger mad in the small hours. Excellent policy and commendable.

 

[modernrail]

Basically it is abundantly clear that they didn't get anybody to sleep in and use a mock up before spending millions on these trains.

Apparently , when BR MK1 sleepers were overhauled at Swindon (in the last century obviously) , a serious test run was done , not just for the obvious mechanical reasons , but for ambience.

People would ride in the individual cabins , each one done carefully at speed - looking out for annoying rattles , loose panelling etc , - the sort of thing that would drive a passenger mad in the small hours. Excellent policy and commendable.

Absolutely and I can't understand for a second why that was not done here (if so am right that it hasn't been done). Just imagine if they had offered the opportunity to people on this forum. They would have received the most detailed feedback in the history of feedback!!

 

[Bald Rick]

I’m reasonably sure those tests were done, but perhaps without such a critical eye? Or more likely too late in the manufacturing process.

 

[modernrail]

I’m reasonably sure those tests were done, but perhaps without such a critical eye? Or more likely too late in the manufacturing process.

I would be interested to know if and when they have been done, and also whether any if the things I have picked up are unavoidable because of safety regulations.

The room temperatures they just need to sort and hopefully that is one of the more fixable items without ripping the train to pieces. As for the bed width . I am a slim chap. There must be some who genuinely struggle to get or stay on it.

 

[Kendalian]

I would be interested to know if and when they have been done, and also whether any if the things I have picked up are unavoidable because of safety regulations.

The room temperatures they just need to sort and hopefully that is one of the more fixable items without ripping the train to pieces. As for the bed width . I am a slim chap. There must be some who genuinely struggle to get or stay on it.

Maybe it's part of a masterplan to get people to book the double rooms

 

[modernrail]

Maybe it's part of a masterplan to get people to book the double rooms

I think I read in the accommodation guide that only the double rooms have do not disturb signs. Make of that what you will ☺

 

[3rd rail land]

My review of the service, Euston to Glasgow on Wednesday night.
1. Messaged to ask whether the train would definitely be available to board at 10pm. Was assured it would be. It wasn't. Boarded at 11pm. Really annoying.
2. Euston really is a dreadful little hole. Not the sleepers' fault but how amazing it would be if they could find a way to run it out of St Pancras. However, it is the sleepers' fault it they advertise and make a song and dance about 10pm boarding and can't deliver it.
3. My restaurant didn't have quite a lot of the alcohol selection. Need to sort their ordering and logistics out.
4. The service was painfully slow in the restaurant with passengers getting really annoyed. One polite guy must have put his hand up 50 times to no avail. They need to change how the staff run the service.
5. The train in general looks nice inside. Those corridors do feel even narrower though.
6. The cabins are full of errors as follows.
7. The width of the beds feels smaller than the old stock. There is plenty of floor space, they could have had quite a bit of a wider bed. Massive error and really affected ability to get the sleep.
8. The cabin was far too hot. I had it on the lowest setting and had to take the duvet out of the cover and was still far too hot. In contrast the corridors were freezing. Lord knows how they have managed to achieve that screw up.
9. The shower bracket is in the wrong place. It is over the toilet so you have to pick it out of the bracket and hold it over yourself. Unforgivable as a basic design error.
10. Shower pressure was poor and the water was cold. I use much older sleeper stock in Sweden and the shower is great.
11. If train is on some camber, water doesn't drain. I spotted it just before it flooded the main cabin. That is going to happen. Drain plug in wrong place, door lip not big enough and floor wrong shape to allow for draining. Get ready for smelly musty carpets.
12. No hangers or shelves in the room. Why??? Really stupid.
13. The lighting consoles seem to me big and unnecessarily intrusive. Can't believe there wasn't a better design option.
14. This one is a classic. Somebody has decided people need room service. There is an intercom button next to a light switch. Most people including me seemed to hit it by accident. It is noisy in your cabin and you can't cancel it. It is noisy in the stewards room at the end of the cabin. The guy in the end cabin didn't get any sleep because of the noise. You don't need room service in the evening on the sleeper. If you really want to provide it just use paper and pen or smartpads in the restaurant. It is also going to drive the staff mad. Really stupid and my favourite for feature that will be switched off in 2 months. The mind boggles as to how they didn't see that one coming.
15. It doesn't feel much quieter than the old train. A bit perhaps.
16. Now the really big one. I didn't sleep. You feel every bit of poor track, the movements are all jerky so no rythmn. I might even say it is worse that the old train although it doesn't have bit where the carriages pulling up the slack from a standing start at least. They need to keep it on the smoother fasts at all costs. Really disappointing they have not got this right.
17. There is a pointless light beneath the toilet that you don't seem to be able to switch off, is really bright and lights up the door frame like a Christmas tree. Really stupid. I don't need illuminated items at thigh level in the bogging area.
18. They seem to have a night light in white around one of the switches that you can't turn off. It is really white and annoying. Is it a safety requirement to have a night light you can't switch off in a sleeper cabin?

Basically it is abundantly clear that they didn't get anybody to sleep in and use a mock up before spending millions on these trains. I love sleepers but this could have been so much better. They should have focussed less on the hotel on wheels guff and more on reducing annoyances to the minimum.

I have never taken a sleeper train in the UK. Based on this review I don't think I'll ever bother. Some of these issues seem easy enough to sort out and therefore simple enough to not be allowed to occur in the first place.

At least if you go down the more traditional route of flying or using a non sleeper train and staying in a regular hotel the n you wouldn't encounter many of these annoyances.