Glasgow - London overnight

[jamesontheroad]

Just briefly, I made a flying trip down from Glasgow to London last week, travelling both ways on the ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper. Left Glasgow Central around 23h30 on Thursday night, arrived London Euston (an hour early!) at 06h00 Friday before returning at 23h00 Friday and arriving back in Glasgow around 06h30 on Saturday morning. A very brief blog post about the trip is here:

http://jamesbrownontheroad.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/1158/

Not exactly cheap by Amtrak standards: £67.90 for a discounted ("16-25" young persons railcard) anytime saver return plus £36 standard class berth reservation each way (£51 each way to reserve a first class compartment). Cheaper advance purchase berths are available online, but usually only midweek. As ever I found it reasonably comfortable provided you don't mind sharing a compartment with another passenger (although sweet talking the attendant on the return got me a compartment to myself without paying a supplement).

ScotRail operate five sleeper routes six nights a week. The "Highland Sleeper" leaves London Euston together around 21h15 and splits in Edinburgh with portions going on to stations towards Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William. The "Lowland Sleeper" leaves Euston at 23h30 (23h00 on Fridays) and splits at Carstairs for Edinburgh and Glasgow. EWS provide the traction with class 90 locomotives under the catenery and class 67 locos for the Highland Sleepers north of Edinburgh. The coaches are British Rail mk. 3 sleepers (11 or 12 compartments, each with 2 berths in standard class or 1 berth in first class). British mk. 2 carriages are used for seated coaches and buffets, with one of each on each portion of the trains. The seated coaches have about thirty places in 2+1 reclining seats, approximately similar to first class on day time trains. Some seated (not berth) passengers on the Highland Sleeper have to be woken in the early hours at Edinburgh to change coaches.

*j* :blink:

 

[MrFSS]

Thanks for the report!

 

[Hanno]

Just briefly, I made a flying trip down from Glasgow to London last week, travelling both ways on the ScotRail Caledonian Sleeper. Left Glasgow Central around 23h30 on Thursday night, arrived London Euston (an hour early!) at 06h00 Friday before returning at 23h00 Friday and arriving back in Glasgow around 06h30 on Saturday morning. A very brief blog post about the trip is here:
http://jamesbrownontheroad.wordpress.com/2008/09/22/1158/

Not exactly cheap by Amtrak standards: £67.90 for a discounted ("16-25" young persons railcard) anytime saver return plus £36 standard class berth reservation each way (£51 each way to reserve a first class compartment). Cheaper advance purchase berths are available online, but usually only midweek. As ever I found it reasonably comfortable provided you don't mind sharing a compartment with another passenger (although sweet talking the attendant on the return got me a compartment to myself without paying a supplement).

ScotRail operate five sleeper routes six nights a week. The "Highland Sleeper" leaves London Euston together around 21h15 and splits in Edinburgh with portions going on to stations towards Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William. The "Lowland Sleeper" leaves Euston at 23h30 (23h00 on Fridays) and splits at Carstairs for Edinburgh and Glasgow. EWS provide the traction with class 90 locomotives under the catenery and class 67 locos for the Highland Sleepers north of Edinburgh. The coaches are British Rail mk. 3 sleepers (11 or 12 compartments, each with 2 berths in standard class or 1 berth in first class). British mk. 2 carriages are used for seated coaches and buffets, with one of each on each portion of the trains. The seated coaches have about thirty places in 2+1 reclining seats, approximately similar to first class on day time trains. Some seated (not berth) passengers on the Highland Sleeper have to be woken in the early hours at Edinburgh to change coaches.

*j* :blink:

Nice report and nice pictures!

 

[caravanman]

Funny enough, I made the opposite trip a few years ago, with my young son! Isle of Skye by sleeper..

Ed B)

 

[hello]

Great photo's James, and interesting blog post!

 

[jamesontheroad]

I've just remembered something I forgot to add. For those of you who have ever made trips in Atlantic Canada (or who plan to), the British Rail mk. 3 sleepers that operate the Caledonian Sleepers were the basic architectural starting point for the sleeper cars on the aborted Nightstar project. The Nightstar was to provide locomotive hauled sleeper services from various points in the UK through the Channel Tunnel to various north-western continental destinations, but the project was abandoned after most of the cars had been built. Various problems, including axle weight, insufficient power supply and the commercial threat of the rising budget airlines meant the project never got off the ground, and the cars were sold a few years later to VIA Rail. The sleepers are now to be found between Montréal and Halifax, the day coaches in the Ontario/Québec corridor and between Montréal and Halifax.

http://www.viarail.ca/nosclasses/en_serv_v...renai_voit.html