# Caledonian Sleeper...



## caravanman (Apr 24, 2015)

Hi,

Jis asked about the Caladonian Sleeper service, and rather than hijack someone else's topic I thought to post it here...:

*Published on Mar 23, 2015*

First Minister of Scotland, Nicola Sturgeon and Rupert Soames, Serco Group Chief Executive Officer launched the new Serco-run Caledonian Sleeper service in Inverness on Monday March 23, 2015.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJm5glAiU58
A new painted engine at least!

I guess the service will be similar to this video, but your trip will be longer to Inverness...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZWHVRx-6xo

Ed


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## jis (Apr 24, 2015)

I have not made up my mind. I could go to Fort William/Mallaig instead. We'll see. Thanks.


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## rrdude (Apr 24, 2015)

Man, I'd like to get back on a British, or Continental sleeper, before they are all history..........

I can scarcely remember my journey from Switzerland to the Netherlands in 1968.


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## jis (Apr 24, 2015)

I did Roma to Zurich by Couchette, which was an epic journey in more sense than one, including a last minute completely unannounced change in the origin station from Roma Termini to Roma Tiburtina, and attempt by the Conductor to sell off my reserved berth to someone else, and an air-conditioner that did not work in Italy but worked perfectly in Switzerland. My general impression was that FS in Italy is a bunch of putzes.


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## trainman74 (Apr 24, 2015)

jis said:


> I have not made up my mind. I could go to Fort William/Mallaig instead. We'll see. Thanks.


This is me at Fort William last September, about to take the Jacobite tourist train to Mallaig:


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## caravanman (Apr 26, 2015)

Nice picture. Did you know that the two white lamps on the front signify that the train is an express... I am guessing there would not have been too much other traffic on the line, anyway!

Sorry for your trials and tribulations, Jis, at least you know a descriptive word or two of the local language!

I don't know the reasons for the demise of the overnight trains in Europe, I guess the budget airlines are so cheap that they take most of the money. Maybe the instructions for working the air con were in Swiss? 

At different times, 6-7 years ago, I enjoyed these overnight trains in sleeper or couchette:

Paris to Berlin.

Paris to Rome and back.

Toulouse to Paris.

Paris to Madrid and back.

Madrid to Algeciras and back.

Amsterdam to Copenhagen.

Copenhagen to Cologne.

Dresden to Basel.

I would still like to take the Amsterdam to Warsaw train overnight, if possible.

( Edit: I just looked up the offerings on D.Bahn, and the above train is no longer shown.  )

Cheers,

Ed


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