Caledonian Sleeper

[Bald Rick]

So the Scottish tourists can visit London for cheap, but the southern tourists can't visit Scotland for cheap...?

Yep! The Scottish tourists are, after all, also paying for the service through their taxes.

 

[Gonzoiku]

Indeed.

If I was Transport Scotland (I’m not) I would lift the prices on the sleepers considerably during Summer - the market can clearly bear it. But I would also introduce a ‘Scotrailcard’ - basically the same as a Network Card but only available to those registered to vote in Scotland. Amongst other (undefined) benefits this would provide a hefty discount on the sleeper to counter the price rises. So the good folk of Scotland continue to be able to use the sleeper at reasonable rates, the Sassenachs and tourists pay top whack, and the Scottish taxpayer gets a better deal. What’s not to like? (From a Scottish political point of view).

Such as the Highland Railcard?

GZ

 

[route101]

interesting that the sleepers are both nearly fully booked, even at that price, but the other modes aren’t… tells you something about the market.

The overnight coaches between the central belt and London often sell out.

I think tourists are booking a long way in advance.

 

[AberdeenBill]

Beyond the whole sleeper market specifically - what I associate with it most is it being a very nice way to travel. I have a leisurely evening, have a shower, wander into town, walk through an otherwise deserted station, get to my bed, and wake up on Euston Road. There is a premium of course. But compared to so so many instances of laughable overcrowding, mass cancellation; industrial action, weather or passenger related delays, absent or reduced cafe service, and a race to the bottom of how many windowless seats can be rammed where a luggage rack should be, my personal experience of the sleeper is one of greater reliability, and considerably reduced stress. In the midst of Edinburgh and the mayhem of the festival, people will pay a lot for that (and clearly do).

This comment echo's my sentiments completely. I travel from London up to Aberdeen about 5 times a year which is relatively expensive compared to flying but i love being able to walk to Euston after work, have a few pints around there, another few drinks on the train, shower in the morning and arrive at a time with the full day ahead.

Indeed.

If I was Transport Scotland (I’m not) I would lift the prices on the sleepers considerably during Summer - the market can clearly bear it. But I would also introduce a ‘Scotrailcard’ - basically the same as a Network Card but only available to those registered to vote in Scotland. Amongst other (undefined) benefits this would provide a hefty discount on the sleeper to counter the price rises. So the good folk of Scotland continue to be able to use the sleeper at reasonable rates, the Sassenachs and tourists pay top whack, and the Scottish taxpayer gets a better deal. What’s not to like? (From a Scottish political point of view).

I think there a few flaws in the 'Scotrailcard'. Not all people who start their journey in Euston are 'Sassenachs' or tourists and my be exiles travelling home to see family, friends etc.

 

[Bald Rick]

I think there a few flaws in the 'Scotrailcard'. Not all people who start their journey in Euston are 'Sassenachs' or tourists and my be exiles travelling home to see family, friends etc.

Nothing is perfect!

 

[leightonbd]

I enjoyed a journey northbound on the Lowlander last night. I was late to book and the only room available was a Club.

I got a text message at about 8 pm saying ‘no water to your cabin, we apologise and will part refund you’. I was actually able to have a very good shower in the lounge, so no hardship there.

Then when I came to board, I was told to go to another cabin - there must have been a no show.

All of the above has happened to me before, and I know to several others too, so, to get to the point of this story: in the new cabin, the top bunk was folded away (as used to be the case with the old stock). A great improvement.

Is this new practice? The website still states that both bunks in Club will be down, even with single occcupancy.

 

[norbitonflyer]

My primary reason for reduced sleeper journeys since about 2017 has been price and although covid had a hand in it it was the cost that did it for me.

Two years ago we planned to walk the Great Glen Way, using the Sleeper to fort William and home from Inverness as the safest way to minimise exposure to Covid. Unfortunately a strike on CS meant we had to fly both ways, with train from Glasgow to FW and two extra nights in hotels. And sure enough we got pinged by test & trace and ended up spending four nights and three days in isolation in a hotel room.

 

[AberdeenBill]

I enjoyed a journey northbound on the Lowlander last night. I was late to book and the only room available was a Club.

I got a text message at about 8 pm saying ‘no water to your cabin, we apologise and will part refund you’. I was actually able to have a very good shower in the lounge, so no hardship there.

Then when I came to board, I was told to go to another cabin - there must have been a no show.

All of the above has happened to me before, and I know to several others too, so, to get to the point of this story: in the new cabin, the top bunk was folded away (as used to be the case with the old stock). A great improvement.

Is this new practice? The website still states that both bunks in Club will be down, even with single occcupancy.

I only ever use the Highlander but have never seen a top bunk folder away since the Mark 3 days. I remember it helps to make the room appear bigger then but the Mark 3 had the benefit of that upper storage shelf. I am not sure if i would wish it to be folded away now as i like being able to use the top bunk to store clothes, bags etc.

 

[D1511]

Ive had a number of club Flexi pass seasons in recent times, and regrettably I've never seen the top bunk folded up. I generally use it to store my suitcase so there is a bit more floorspace (but still not much!) Best I've had was a missing ladder, which was a huge improvement!
I also have a suspicion that if you search for availability using a club Flexi pass as payment, it doesn't show all availability, unless @leightonbd managed to snaffle a last minute cancellation.
Does anyone else have similar suspicions, or am I being paranoid?!

 

[alistairlees]

I also have a suspicion that if you search for availability using a club Flexi pass as payment, it doesn't show all availability, unless @leightonbd managed to snaffle a last minute cancellation.
Does anyone else have similar suspicions, or am I being paranoid?!

Paranoid, I'm afraid! There are always as many Flexipass rooms as there are paid-for rooms. If you find a situation where this does not seem to be the case, let us know, please.

 

[D1511]

Paranoid, I'm afraid! There are always as many Flexipass rooms as there are paid-for rooms. If you find a situation where this does not seem to be the case, let us know, please.

Thanks, I will.

 

[leightonbd]

Thanks to all who replied - my suspicion was that the room had been specially prepped for ‘management’ who then didn’t show …

The commercial point is: if you pay for single occupancy, why have that second bunk getting in the way? And (I think) the answer is (or was): we have nowhere to store the mattresses which are so lavish, generous etc that you can’t fold the bed up and leave the mattress in place.

But if that’s wrong, and the top bunk can be folded up: please, CS, do it!

 

[Surreytraveller]

Anyone know what's with the delays this morning? Don't think their Twitter team are about during the night (you'd think they would be considering that's when their trains run)

 

[Mag_seven]

Anyone know what's with the delays this morning? Don't think their Twitter team are about during the night (you'd think they would be considering that's when their trains run)

Failed train earlier in the Beattock area - see this thread:

A Bad evening on the WCML north of Carlisle 13/08/23

Good evening all, I have sympathy for anyone affected by the severe delays north of Carlisle this evening. I think 1S83 18:10 Manchester Airport to Edinburgh (397005) failed in the Beattock area (at approximately 21:00 according to Real Time Trains). It was arranged for Avanti 9S93 16:15...

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[Surreytraveller]

Thanks for that! Zero information anywhere else. Information during delays is something the industry is excruciatingly bad at

 

[Deafdoggie]

Anyone know what's with the delays this morning? Don't think their Twitter team are about during the night (you'd think they would be considering that's when their trains run)

They generally keep the passengers on board very well informed. There's no real need to tell anyone else. Most customer service issues occur in the day with people trying to book, ask questions, etc. Makes more sense to have the team on then.

 

[Surreytraveller]

They generally keep the passengers on board very well informed. There's no real need to tell anyone else. Most customer service issues occur in the day with people trying to book, ask questions, etc. Makes more sense to have the team on then.

Hours after the event, yes! Should be someone on Twitter during the night

 

[Deafdoggie]

Hours after the event, yes! Should be someone on Twitter during the night

Why? The only people affected are on the train. There are staff on the train.

 

[Surreytraveller]

Why? The only people affected are on the train. There are staff on the train.

Staff on the train don't make announcements because there's a lot of people on the train who are asleep. And do you expect someone in bed awake to get up and find a member of staff?

 

[MotCO]

Staff on the train don't make announcements because there's a lot of people on the train who are asleep. And do you expect someone in bed awake to get up and find a member of staff?

Maybe there should be a digital screen in each cabin? This could give out messages such as the dining room is now open or closed, or we are delayed because of...

 

[Surreytraveller]

Maybe there should be a digital screen in each cabin? This could give out messages such as the dining room is now open or closed, or we are delayed because of...

Could be. And the person who updates that could also update Twitter and respond to enquiries

 

[AberdeenBill]

They generally keep the passengers on board very well informed. There's no real need to tell anyone else. Most customer service issues occur in the day with people trying to book, ask questions, etc. Makes more sense to have the team on then.

I was on the Aberdeen to Euston sleeper last night and can confirm that the display screens in the corridors and the staff (in my case when bringing me my breakfast) informed the passengers of the extent of the delay.

 

[Caleb2010]

Maybe there should be a digital screen in each cabin? This could give out messages such as the dining room is now open or closed, or we are delayed because of...

That’s all the passengers need, more bright lights while they’re trying to sleep! What with the call button and reflective signage.

I suppose they could incorporate an off button but that would defeat the object.

I thought the CS twitter (X) team were on all night.

 

[C96]

That’s all the passengers need, more bright lights while they’re trying to sleep! What with the call button and reflective signage.

I suppose they could incorporate an off button but that would defeat the object.

I thought the CS twitter (X) team were on all night.

Staff onboard and display screens are more than adequate for getting information to the people that need it.

How are you to use X/Twitter without the bright light that is your phone or tablet ….?

 

[jagardner1984]

Personally I think given the impact on the late Avanti services - for the CS Lowlanders to recover to 50 mins late S/B and 68 late N/B was pretty impressive

 

[trebor79]

Staff on the train don't make announcements because there's a lot of people on the train who are asleep. And do you expect someone in bed awake to get up and find a member of staff?

There's a button in the cabin you can press and the steward will come to you.
Last thing I'm going to want to do on a train at night is stare at a brightly lit phone screen and disturb my sleep even more. I wouldn't even bother calling the steward, just get some shut eye and find out what's occurring in the morning, not like knowing in the middle fo the night is going to change anything is it?

 

[Caleb2010]

Staff onboard and display screens are more than adequate for getting information to the people that need it.

How are you to use X/Twitter without the bright light that is your phone or tablet ….?

I don’t, in the middle of the night!

 

[Bletchleyite]

I don’t, in the middle of the night!

I think the point would be that how late the Sleeper is isn't really useful information in the middle of the night, as mostly (bar stuff like bailing at Preston at 3am on the Highlander) you're not going to be able to do anything about that until the morning, so you might as well wait until you wake up and look out of the window.

 

[Caleb2010]

Exactly, you can’t do anything about it so a screen in the berth is largely superfluous!

 

[LickeyIncliner]

Thanks to all who replied - my suspicion was that the room had been specially prepped for ‘management’ who then didn’t show …

The commercial point is: if you pay for single occupancy, why have that second bunk getting in the way? And (I think) the answer is (or was): we have nowhere to store the mattresses which are so lavish, generous etc that you can’t fold the bed up and leave the mattress in place.

But if that’s wrong, and the top bunk can be folded up: please, CS, do it!

I think the fixed upper bunk is a major defect of the present design or operation in terms of the attractiveness of the sleeper for solo travel. It makes the room seem much more cramped if you're standing up, and either bunk distinctly claustrophobic to try to sleep in - quite apart from the contortions needed to get in and out of bed (already mentioned) and the lack of space to sit up in bed. It's a big step in the wrong direction compared with the previous stock, and I for one now avoid the sleeper after being a regular user for years, entirely for this reason.