First great western sleeper

[anthony263]

i am planning to go to london on 27th january 2009. i want to get there early so as to have a full day out but rather than pay for a taxi to my local station at 03:30 in the morning i might travel from bridgend to taunton via cardiff the night before and time myself to arrive there at 01:12 and then get the sleeper from taunton at 02:15.


the question i have since i havent used the sleeper beofre is can i travle on it without bookiong a berth as i am not planning on sleeping anyway and just travel on it to london

 

[devon_metro]

Yes

 

[heart-of-wessex]

you can join the seated coaches yes. I'm unsure if it works like the caledonian one where you can take a seat if its not reserved, but never been on the FGW sleeper with seats reserved everywhere so you should be ok anyway.

 

[P156KWJ]

aren't reservations still compulsary? And if there aren't any seats, are you allowed to just use the vestibule if you really want?

 

[anthony263]

right , thank you to those who replyed to my question

 

[TEW]

Reservations aren't compulsory on the FGW sleeper and there is one coach which is usually totally unreserved.

 

[paul1609]

In my experience the seats are very unlikely to be busy in winter its not unusual to have a coach to yourself.
It might however be worth making a reservation as the service is very liable to be diverted because of engineering works via Yeovil. I'm not sure what if any arranagements are made for passengers to from Taunton.

 

[support-uk-rail]

There's loads of unreserved seats, and loads of unreserved berths as well (there is no guarantee of a placement with the latter).


Haz

 

[paul1609]

yeah id go along with that, from Paddington down to Plymouth on a Sunday night I hardly ever book. I've always got a berth occasionally i've had to wait in the buffet till the train departs but thats about it. Dont go expecting the atmosphere of the Highland sleepers though. if there' 10 people sitting next to the buffet its a busy night and most of those will be railwaymen travelling on privs.

 

[Techniquest]

You can definately turn up and go, done it before back in 2004.

I would strongly advise checking the dates you're going for any engineering works and such like, to ensure the sleeper is going to pick up at Taunton. On that note, I would also recommend staying on to Exeter and joining the sleeper there (which I'm sure you will have to do if the sleeper is diverted via Yeovil, as it's non-stop to Reading when that happens), I usually do as a filler to keep out of the cold. And trust me, Taunton station is cold in May (heart-of-wessex will recall how cold we were back in May when we got 57604) or June overnight, so in January I'd expect it to be very cold!

 

[anthony263]

ok thank you for the advice, will have a look at the fares from bridgend to exeter from exeter to london

 

[The_Rail_WAy]

A man travelling westbound "Night Riviera" sleeping car train ordered one of the attendants, "I have to be off at Truro, I'm a heavy sleeper (no pun intended!), but I must get off there. I want you to put me off, whatever I say."

The next morning he woke up at Penzance!

Extremely annoyed he found the attendant and gave him a piece of his mind. After he had left, somebody asked the attendant, "How could you stand there and take that kind of talk?"
"That's nothing!", replied the attendent, "you should have heard the guy I put off at Truro!"

 

[Techniquest]

 

[MCR247]

 

[anthony263]

I have checked on first great western webpage and according to that the only engineering works are between newton abbot & plymouth and the sleeper is timed to leave taunton at 02:15 and arrive in london at 05:40

the plans i have is:

26th january:

21:25 bridgend - cardiff central (Arr 21:47)
22:00 Cardiff Central - Bristol TM (Arr 22:55)
23:35 Bristol TM - Taunton (Arr 01:09)


27th january:

02:15 Taunton - London paddington (Arr 05:40)

i have stiill to arrange final details as this will have to wait until i am back in uni on 5th january 2009 there i can speak to my 2 other class mates about them tagging along, since they want to have a chance to travel on the sleeper.

 

[anthony263]

I have sorted tickets out for the sleeper from taunton plus my discounted all day travelcard and ticket back to bridgend from London.

just 1 question, one of my freinds from my transport management class at uni, so coming along up to london as he is planning on seing lilly allen in concert on the 28th, asked me tody about how many carriages the sleeper service had.

am i right in saying that ere are 2/3 seating coaches, followed by a buffet car & then the sleeper cariages.

 

[Ilove165's]

When I did it, it was 5 sleeper cars, Buffet and then 1 seated

Sam

 

[paul1609]

think it depends on the demand/time of year

 

[martyn29]

have they put those seat back tvs on yet?

 

[kestrel]

it was load 10 on sunday night!

 

[TEW]

The sleeper always has two seated coaches, then the buffet which is the lounger car and then it has a varying amount of sleeper coaches.

And they aren't getting seat back TV's, they are getting in-cabin TV's.

 

[anthony263]

I wish i had gone overnight in a coach now, if its is going to be as cold as u decribe it, although, i guess i should be used to the freezing cold as i know what it is like to start work at 4am on a cold day.

 

[Gazman]

I actually got off the sleeper at Taunton last Saturday just after 2am and was going to wait there until the first train of the day to Bristol at 5.30.

Another passenger had the same idea so she asked the station manager if he could open up a waiting room. He said he would do a few minutes later once he had seen off another train and, I think, made sure there were no drunks or tramps around!

However, I can't vouch for the warmth or comfort of the waiting room as I decided in the end that I could get home quicker by cycling the 50 miles!

As for the sleeper itself, I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable the seated carriages were and, as I got confirmation from the guard that there are now TVs in the berths, I can't wait to make the Paddington-Penzance journey!

 

[MCR247]

TVs in the berths? Are there any in the FSR sleepers?

BTW I know I'm being a little optimistic here!

 

[John_158]

Jist a Quick Question about FGW i have is Where do they run Trains to From Birmingham ?

 

[metrocammel]

TVs in the berths? Are there any in the FSR sleepers?

BTW I know I'm being a little optimistic here!

No, there aren't.

Jist a Quick Question about FGW i have is Where do they run Trains to From Birmingham ?

They don't.

 

[anthony263]

Anyone got and reason why according to the timetable the sleeper is timed to take 90 minutes between reading & London Paddington?

i know that even the slowest stopping service only take 55 minutes to travel between reading & London paddington.

is it so that it arrives at paddington early and to improve their puntuality figures?

 

[MCR247]

Thought so.

 

[First ScotRail]

No FSR dont have the Volo TVs however we do have comfy Duvets in all sleeper berths now.

 

[devon_metro]

Anyone got and reason why according to the timetable the sleeper is timed to take 90 minutes between reading & London Paddington?

i know that even the slowest stopping service only take 55 minutes to travel between reading & London paddington.

is it so that it arrives at paddington early and to improve their puntuality figures?

Engineering allowances.