Night Riviera - configuration

[greaterwest]

I also remember being awoken at Melksham as the train went around the tight bend last time I used the sleeper. I'd imagine it's the same situation at Yeovil too.

 

[sparks2000]

I was definitely awakened at Yeovil - I put a pin in my phone map so that I could see where I was at the time of the wake up. I was soon asleep again.
It did seem that after the engine noise awoke me the journey was no fun after that. Being attached directly to the loco is bad thing

 

[Crossover]

I did the Riviera on a Sunday night on March and my coach had the berth windows facing away from platform 1

The refurbished sleps will be all convertable on the day ie, any berth can be double or single as required unlike mow when each coach has 4 doubles and 8 singles. Certainly initially, the first coach will have a following on here ! Due to lack of vehicles, we cant do a whole set at a time, its nearly a year to get this far repainting them ! I guess when they start coming out you could ask at time of booking.

I hadn't realised they had fixed berth configurations...I presumed they could be changed about according to need

I was definitely awakened at Yeovil - I put a pin in my phone map so that I could see where I was at the time of the wake up. I was soon asleep again.
It did seem that after the engine noise awoke me the journey was no fun after that. Being attached directly to the loco is bad thing

Sounds like when I did the Cally to Oban - on leaving Edinburgh we had the 73 within 10m of our berth and the noise of it through Princes Street tunnels woke me up!

 

[fgwrich]

Sounds like when I did the Cally to Oban - on leaving Edinburgh we had the 73 within 10m of our berth and the noise of it through Princes Street tunnels woke me up!

To be fair, when I did the Caley sleeper last month I was in the 4th coach down and I could hear those 73s at the front through Princess Street Tunnels too!

 

[Crossover]

To be fair, when I did the Caley sleeper last month I was in the 4th coach down and I could hear those 73s at the front through Princess Street Tunnels too!

One could argue there are worse sounds to wake up to

 

[BestWestern]

One could argue there are worse sounds to wake up to

Can one pay an upgrade supplement for it?

 

[jonostan]

Hi everyone,

Sorry to revive this old post - since my query is relevant I figured I'd post it here rather than opening a new thread. Apologies if that's not the policy here!

Anyway - I'm taking the Night Riviera from Paddington to St Erth this Friday night. Being late in booking, I need to reserve a seat, and the only one that seems to be left is B17.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me if coach B from this chart is accurate for the Night Riviera train, as well? https://www.gwr.com/~/media/gwr/pdfs/safety-information/hst-seating-plan.pdf I've read some pretty scathing reviews of the seats on this train and am quite apprehensive, so I wanted to inform myself as much as possible in advance.

Also - if there are no-shows for the berths, is there any chance of getting one of the empty beds if I have a chat with the conductor?

Thanks very much in advance!

 

[CC 72100]

That seating plan does not apply to the Night Riviera sleeper seated coaches. Whilst it's a Friday, I'm surprised that there is only one seat left. At this time of year, coach A is reserved first and any overspill put into coach B - but never any more than 10 - 12 reservations in B.

 

[jonostan]

Thanks for your reply!

How strange - I changed my reservation preference from "table" to "airline" and got allocated the same seat - even though I also selected quiet coach, which I believe(?) is A. So I assume that was the only seat left, but it could also just be an inflexible online system.

I'll be camping out in Cornwall so will have a mat and sleeping bag with me - I'm half tempted to just use those in the aisle or somewhere out of the way, but I assume the guards won't be happy with that?

 

[Parallel]

Also - if there are no-shows for the berths, is there any chance of getting one of the empty beds if I have a chat with the conductor?

Possibly! Speak to one of the onboard team when you board, as they may have a spare berth (of which, a supplement would apply).

 

[Muzer]

It's a bank holiday weekend, so I'm unsurprised.

 

[co-tr-paul]

As per Night Riviera thread, we now find ourselves reserving B coach on a regular basis. The Fri down will have an extra A coach too. There is only one table now in the refurbished B coaches, seats 24 or 30 - strangely, both coaches done so far have them in a different place !
Custyomer Hosts will advise on any spare berths. There will be 90 beds.

 

[CC 72100]

As per Night Riviera thread, we now find ourselves reserving B coach on a regular basis. The Fri down will have an extra A coach too. There is only one table now in the refurbished B coaches, seats 24 or 30 - strangely, both coaches done so far have them in a different place !
Custyomer Hosts will advise on any spare berths. There will be 90 beds.

Fair enough - good to hear that there is an increased level of demand for the sleeper. I haven't been on it for a couple of years so was going off the general situation back in 2015, as well as completely forgetting about the Bank Holiday :P

 

[jonostan]

As per Night Riviera thread, we now find ourselves reserving B coach on a regular basis. The Fri down will have an extra A coach too. There is only one table now in the refurbished B coaches, seats 24 or 30 - strangely, both coaches done so far have them in a different place !
Custyomer Hosts will advise on any spare berths. There will be 90 beds.

Thank you very much for the info, Paul - good to know. Is there a difference between the A and B coaches in terms of travel experience? I read on another forum that the lights are kept on in B but not A, but that sounds a little arbitrary. Here's hoping for a decent night's sleep one way or another...!

 

[Sleepy]

Just for the record berths for 2345 Friday night end of May Whitsun bank holiday weekend (half term too) are showing fully booked.
Update: Just checked Thursday (25th) down all berths sold out as well ! (usually formed with 1 fewer sleeping car than Friday down)

 

[work-traveller]

Also - if there are no-shows for the berths, is there any chance of getting one of the empty beds if I have a chat with the conductor?

Last summer we ended up on the Sleeper from Penzance to Paddington at short notice (24hrs) due to flight cancellations from a fog bound St Marys. We could only book seats as all berths were already reserved. In the event, there were 3 no-shows which were then sold to passengers in seats. Unfortunately for us, we were number 5 & 6 on the 'stand-by' list (due to other Scilly Isles Escapees) and so didn't get a berth that time.

So my advice would be to arrive in good time to a) ask if any berths aren't going to be occupied and b) get your name at the top of the list for 'no-show' berths.

 

[jonostan]

So my advice would be to arrive in good time to a) ask if any berths aren't going to be occupied and b) get your name at the top of the list for 'no-show' berths.

Thanks - I might just do that, seeing as I have nothing better to do with the rest of the evening. Do passengers in seats also get to use the lounge at Paddington, or is that for berth holders only? The Night Riviera website does a remarkable job at not mentioning anything to do with cattle class...

 

[Sleepy]

Thanks - I might just do that, seeing as I have nothing better to do with the rest of the evening. Do passengers in seats also get to use the lounge at Paddington, or is that for berth holders only? The Night Riviera website does a remarkable job at not mentioning anything to do with cattle class...

The First Class lounge at Pad is only for use of sleeping berth peeps sadly.

 

[work-traveller]

The First Class lounge at Pad is only for use of sleeping berth peeps sadly.

Although on the occasions I've used it, the max 1 or 2 staff have been far more interested in cleaning up and getting ready to close the lounge as soon as the sleeper service departs. Never had my ticket checked - just walked straight in and helped myself to the (meagre) offerings.

 

[ainsworth74]

Although on the occasions I've used it, the max 1 or 2 staff have been far more interested in cleaning up and getting ready to close the lounge as soon as the sleeper service departs. Never had my ticket checked - just walked straight in and helped myself to the (meagre) offerings.

Hmm I've always had my ticket checked when I've used the lounge prior to the Sleeper!

 

[Devonman2014]

Thank you very much for the info, Paul - good to know. Is there a difference between the A and B coaches in terms of travel experience? I read on another forum that the lights are kept on in B but not A, but that sounds a little arbitrary. Here's hoping for a decent night's sleep one way or another...!

Evening

On my last few uses of the sleeper in seated standard class all lights (which are now LED's in refurbished coach 12161) were left on and not dimmed.
for me it meant a coat over head to sleep (got 2 hrs max).

 

[co-tr-paul]

B coach should be dimmed. If not, ask no tell the train manager !
Saying that, its still brighter than ye olde coaches.

 

[fgwrich]

Here are a few pics taken last week.

 

[Muzer]

God, those seats look horrific.

 

[221129]

God, those seats look horrific.

I didn't find them to be as bad as they looked.

 

[jonostan]

Hi everyone - thanks again for all your help and advice! I thought I'd report back. The berths were indeed full, but as it turned out the seats were far from it. I arrived at 10.30 and found that lots of the seats in the A carriages (there were indeed two) were unreserved, so grabbed one of those. What on Earth drove GWR to make the new (presumably) B coaches so awful? I sat in them in the morning and they were worse than any conventional or night seat I've ever sat in.

Anyway - the lady behind the bar, who kept the waiting list for berth no-shows, suggested that some passengers lie across the aisle in the A coaches overnight, where two seat backs meet and form a triangle of space. So that's what I did, and got a reasonable night's sleep.

Cornwall is gorgeous, too! First time out there, and the coast really is pretty spectacular. Thanks again for helping me get informed about the journey there!

 

[fgwrich]

Hi everyone - thanks again for all your help and advice! I thought I'd report back. The berths were indeed full, but as it turned out the seats were far from it. I arrived at 10.30 and found that lots of the seats in the A carriages (there were indeed two) were unreserved, so grabbed one of those. What on Earth drove GWR to make the new (presumably) B coaches so awful? I sat in them in the morning and they were worse than any conventional or night seat I've ever sat in.

Anyway - the lady behind the bar, who kept the waiting list for berth no-shows, suggested that some passengers lie across the aisle in the A coaches overnight, where two seat backs meet and form a triangle of space. So that's what I did, and got a reasonable night's sleep.

Cornwall is gorgeous, too! First time out there, and the coast really is pretty spectacular. Thanks again for helping me get informed about the journey there!

God, those seats look horrific.

They really are awful. I'm sorry to see the Night Riviera being treated this way. If it's not the rather steep pitch they are set at, it's the annoying creaking noise the plastic bases seem to make. I'm still also not keen on the idea that a 2+2 layout is good for sleeping in - unless you know the person your sat next to very well.

I know First seem to want GWR to evoke the spirit of the original GWR, but with this Sleeper refurbishment, it really does feel like they're trying to evoke the spirit of 1st and 3rd class on one service.

Indeed that's what a lot of people tend to do, the IC70s being past their best by some years, and the fixed layout of the armrests doesn't help either. Sometimes you'll see people sleeping under the seats as you've pointed out, across the seats or as I try to do, feet across the gap with my seat in recline (when it does!).

Pleased your enjoying your trip though, It's a great service and it's good to see it thrive. Not bad considering the DfT rendered it effectively unnecessary 10 years ago. And enjoy your time in the South West!

 

[rg177]

I'm going to be using the seated sleeper extensively this summer and seeing those photos fill me somewhat with dread.

That said, I don't think any of the services I used were filled heavily enough to see anyone sat next to each other. I've fallen asleep lying across MK3 seats on VTEC and they look largely similar.

The old seats were a bit sunk and ruined, but putting my feet up with shoes off on the seat opposite and using my jacket as a blanket saw me sufficiently knocked out to sleep most of the way!

Sent from my LG-K350 using Tapatalk

 

[jonostan]

I'm going to be using the seated sleeper extensively this summer and seeing those photos fill me somewhat with dread.

That said, I don't think any of the services I used were filled heavily enough to see anyone sat next to each other. I've fallen asleep lying across MK3 seats on VTEC and they look largely similar.

The old seats were a bit sunk and ruined, but putting my feet up with shoes off on the seat opposite and using my jacket as a blanket saw me sufficiently knocked out to sleep most of the way!

Sent from my LG-K350 using Tapatalk

Yeah - there was plenty of space even on a bank holiday weekend like last weekend. If you arrive early (I got there right for 2230) you could well have your pick of single or double seats at tables so you can put your feet up or curl up on the doubles - quite a few people did. Also, the lying-across-the-aisle version is worth a shot - depending on your height. I had a sleeping mat and pillow with me which made that a pleasant option. Good luck!

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Anyone had a slack coupling connection on the Riviera?

I certainly have, 57603 attached at Long Rock appeared to have had the screw done up a couple of rounds almost as a 'ah that'll do' job.

So pulling away from each station resulted in a heavy 'snatch' as the coupling from the loco to the lead coach was so slack it was ridiculous. I was in the seated coach at the back and couldn't really sleep as I kept waking up everytime we slowed down, picked up speed or pulled from a stop, how the heck anyone slept in the beds I don't know.

Best part was they decided to screw it up tight at Reading...:roll: