sleeper trains maybe canx?

[delticmatt100]

hi all just seen the news

sleeper rail services maybe be cancelled sometime soon.

does any one know wat routes these operate on?

mite try go to places to film them if they are coming out of service soon.

tc

matty

[arabiandisco]

There's the FGW sleeper from London to Penz, which I think runs via Bristol normally, and the Caledonian Sleepers out of Euston to Edin/ Glas/ Aber/ Ft Bill.

[phat2003uk]

It's the FGW sleeper that is at risk. I think the Caledonian Sleeper is safe; for now anyway.

[RobertM]

Everytime I go too london, I see two sleeper trains in the platforms at London Euston from the night before, and I though there was one up in Scotland somwhere

And I thought there was an overnight one from edinburgh to London, or somthing like that, I used to see the coaches in Carlisle somtimes

RobertM

[barrybryce01475]

The two you'd see in Euston are a London - Edinburgh / Glasgow splitting at Carstairs and a London - Fort W / Inverness / Aberdeen splitting at Edinburgh.

When you consider how much better even the seats are than the overnight bus, and the number of people that travel from Scotland to England by overnight bus each night, I wish they'd make a proper go of getting people on them I'm certain they could nab at least half National Expresses customers if they *really* tried.

[nwallace]

Have you seen how much the overnight bus costs?

[barrybryce01475]

It was £38 the last time I looked, against a possible £40 (If they want the full £83 I fly or take the bus) for the train.

I've had to use the bus when I've been travelling on Saturday nights, and there's been up to three full buses doing the trip.

I feel sure the trains could make a couple of full carriages at £40 a head out of that if they made the effort, and surely it would be worth their while?

The other advantage of National Express is of course that buying a ticket to go one direction by night and the other by day isn't a Big Problem.

[rikfarish]

First ScotRail sleeper services are guaranteed until the end of the franchise as part of Firsts franchsie commitment.

Currently First are spending about £1m refurbing the sleeping cars, funnily enough the contract has gone to EWS at Toton.

There are Two "up" and two "down" services each night (except Sat)

London - Edinburgh/ Glasgow (train splits at Carstairs)
London - Aberdeen/ Inverness/ Fort William - trains splits at Edinburgh

The southbound services join up at the same lcoations.

Traction is Class 90 (EWS) on the elctrified bits and Class 67s from Edinburgh to Inverness and Aberdeen. Class 37/4 being used on the Edinburgh- Fort Bill sections.

As far as crewing is concerned, its all EWS drivers, except Edinburgh - Fort William section which is still in the hands of First Scotrail drivers from Glasgow Queen Street. First ScotRail guards throughout.

[45002]

Sign up Here http://www.saveoursleeper.com/mainpage.htm

And Save our sleeper "SOS" and there a Picture of 57602

MARTIN

[nwallace]

Megabus

20:50 Depart Dundee, Discovery Point
Arrive London Victoria, Greenline Coach Station 06:15 1 seat = £14.00

[skipperdipper]

I wouldn't fancy 10 hours on a bus! I'd get the train.

Rob

[joea1]

The train may be canned. The 'Night Riveria' runs at 23:59 from Paddington to Penzance. I was reading about it in a local magazine. It's not like I use it anyway, I didn't even know about it before today.

[yorkie]

The Scotrail service is fairly safe because it is too 'politically sensitive', it's also more well used.

However I urge anyone who is a fan of Class 37s to do the Fort William sleeper before it goes to 67 haulage. It's an absolutely amazing journey.

A group of us recently took a trip to Skye, via Aberdeen, Elgin, Inverness and Kyle of Lochalsh on the outward trip and via Mallaig, Glenfinnan and Fort William on the return, you can see the photos here and here. If anyone wants to undertake such a journey you are welcome to PM me for advice on ticketing (and it won't cost as much as you may expect).



A berth supplement is £34 adults, £17 U16s on Scotrail, but is cheaper on Great Western. You get access to the 1st class Dining car. I can't speak for the Great Western service but the food is good and inexpensive on Scotrail and the service is excellent.

Sleeper trains are well worth doing. You can use normal 'Saver' tickets on them, and are a cheap way of getting to London for the morning peak. They also feature 2+1 reclining seats, and that's Standard class.

I've not yet done the Great Western sleeper, but I intend to do so soon.