Caledonian sleeper speculative improvements

[Bletchleyite]

Good point. The reason I partially excluded the Fort William/Oban trains is simply because they would be shorter than the Inverness/Aberdeen/Glasgow/Edinburgh sections

I think we're getting to the point where that no longer makes sense, particularly if you split a couple off to Oban, though I think a guaranteed cross platform connection at Crianlarich with a DMU service would be an easier way to serve the relatively short run to Oban (or do the connection to FW and onto Mallaig, I guess).

I could see a case for doing it with FW - with the later arrival they could do something like serve a decent quality complimentary Continental breakfast box on the DMU plus tea and filter coffee. Arrival at Crianlarich isn't spectacularly early - 0745 - and Sleeper passengers may well be glad of sitting in a seat and looking out of a big window on the very scenic leg. Similarly, going the other way, 2207 isn't a terrible time for bed, and a lounge-style service could be provided on the DMU, perhaps by way of contracting with a local catering business to supply pre-booked meals, plus doing a decent cold selection of sandwiches, salads, cheese and biscuits etc on board.

In the end the FW service leaves early enough that almost nobody will want to go straight to bed, so provided the connection was guaranteed I think this could work fine.

On the other hand, there's already a suitable DMU connection from Oban at Crianlarich southbound...

 

[BRX]

Sleeper passengers would not just have to get up for 0745 - they'd have to get up and get all their stuff packed together and so on. Having to get up at 7am, sort all your stuff out, and get out of one train and onto another, before getting your breakfast would be a significant downgrade on the current experience for FW passengers. But having a co-ordinated DMU departure to Oban with breakfast on board would be an improvement on what Oban-destined passengers currently get.