So a few issues to unpick here.This was in reference to my trip the other day. The full post is on the previous page. I booked by ticket on the basis of arrival in Glasgow for 0845. Due to disruption that I was advised of the day prior at 1800, I was asked to vacate in Edinburgh at 0650.
The train then proceeded to sit in Edinburgh until 0820.
It's in the timetable.
All Timetables
All Timetables | Caledonian Sleeper. View all timetables for Caledonian Sleeper services between London and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Fort William.www.sleeper.scot
If you check out the Edinburgh portion, you'll see its to disembark by 0800.
I don't think you can brush this off as a triviality of some sorts. If you purchase a hotel room with a check out time of 0800, you don't expect staff to be ushering you out at 0600 (indeed, many people factor in check out time as a deciding factor when booking a room - often a deal breaker if pre-11am, unless the price is right).
Basically, the timetable is an advertised service and it's what things like delay repay are based on. I dont think its right to see the sleeper in quite the same light as any other train service, because it isn't any other train service. Its as much about getting a reasonable amount of sleep as anything else - heck, if it wasn't, why make rooms available at 2230 at Euston? Why not just run a 2350 Pendolino departure instead to get to Scotland around 0445?
Answer: because hardly anyone would use it. The whole point of the sleeper (including the marketing) is that you can travel and sleep. The competitive advantage being that you have arrived well rested and ready to go.
Meeting basic requirements like honouring the advertised check out time should be requirements, not niceties.
Who is it hassle for? The only people it seems to be vexing is a few rail enthusiasts. Personally, I find the CS a very useful service for when I want to travel and get to my destination with a full day ahead. Given the choice between a red eye flight (which means a horrendously early start) or a local embarkation on the CS, the latter wins everytime.
Or alternatively we could continue to run it 'as is' and ignore the whingers. The service is, after all, well used.
When London to Aberdeen still takes 7 hours and Bristol to Aberdeen more like 9 +, yes we do.
Presumably such a service would also require subsidy which is why it doesn’t exist.
Where is a marketed as a 'hotel on wheels'? Where does it say that on official CS documentation? The headline promotional material describes it as "a unique way of travelling...overnight rail service bringing you the flavours of Scotland and comfort travelling between London and Scotland". Key words there - travelling and rail service.
While expecting it to match the experience of a hotel is perhaps unfair it is priced as such - at £165 for a room from London to Aberdeen with a railcard, that’s around the cost of a day ticket and a cheap hotel room.
But comparable with a First Class Anytime?
I don’t care what the official documentation says. Given the high ticket prices, I would expect some compensation if I were being kicked out early.
CS frequently sells out, and I never travel first class so it’s not comparable really. And unlike first class, food isn’t included on the sleeper.
If you look at the official guest charter, on the "official" website I note the following (including the hotel word):-
Travel in a cabin cannot be compared to some budget seat on a Lumo - it is nicer experience that offers personal space during travel, so more akin to (but better) First Class. So that really is the metric. £165 would seem to be in the ballpark of an equivalent non-advance First Class ticket, so seems pretty good value to me.
Thank you for this - again the keyword is "combine". So the salient question is are there many long distance trains where you can continue to sit on the train for ages after arrival? I don't think so. Likewise, all hotels have a check-out time. Framed as such, a reasonable fusion of the two is to disembark upon arrival. Which is exactly what most people do!
And the point I am saying is there is no evidence posted where this has actually occurred. Indeed, I have actually posted an example where the CS asks people to alight on arrival (London to Glasgow, 22-25 May, Service Alterations page). Ergo, the rants and accusations being made are not actually grounded in fact. Instead it is what non-regular users of the Service believe it might be.
That link even includes the Service alterations page. You see this is the problem - if you are not prepared to actually read the documentation, you will be caught out.It is on this page, which shows the timetable and when rooms must be vacated by:
Timetable Detail
View all timetables for Caledonian Sleeper services for routes between London and Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Fort William.
Read back through this thread for examples of that not being provided. There are several.
It has occurred to me - several times. It has always been made clear by the staff that we are expected to get off the train as soon as it arrives. Not suualy a problem on the Highlander but definitely a rude awakening at Edinburgh or Glasgow.
Keith Brown is the one responsible for that doozy.
There is a page entry for every single day. The email instructions tell you to look at it!
Yup.
So this is in a relation to an experience a quarter of a century ago? Really?
Given I use the CS circa-once a month and have never been hurried out of accommodation by staff (who are normally to busy delivering bacon rolls in my experience to do much else), and the fact the CS provides more customer information that just about any other train operator, I do find some of the comments incredulous. In all honesty, I suspect many are based on what people think is wrong with sleeper rather than anything that bothers actual users.
How would you know this if you're off as soon as you can?
Their publicity is honest - or at least nobody has actually posted any evidence to the contrary whilst there is clear evidence that information is provided well in advance. I don't doubt some people might have had a negative experience - that happens in all forms of public transport - but I am far from convinced from the comments posted so far there is actually an issue. Indeed, having 'shaken the tree' with some of the comments, it seems to evident the provenance behind them is pretty ropey. Thankfully there are plenty of other means of transport available so such individuals can travel by other means.
