Caledonian Sleeper

[Falcon1200]

During your time? Did you work for the sleeper?

I worked in Network Rail Control, including for some years as Senior Controller responsible for, among other things, the WCML in Scotland.

 

[Tom]

If it ever gets re signalled you'll get data but not right now. You do get data from Moy loop to Kingussie and a little bit from Blair Atholl to Pitlochry.

There'll be data north of Moy through to Inverness station if all goes well from the first full week of January if I remember rightly. Definitely should be nearly full coverage from the Aberdeen direction but can't remember the full detail on the Highland Main Line.

 

[Scotrail84]

I worked in Network Rail Control, including for some years as Senior Controller responsible for, among other things, the WCML in Scotland.

Very good. You out the game now? Retired? I bet that sleeper caused you many a ball ache with the issues it encountered at times.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 10 Dec 2024 ==

There'll be data north of Moy through to Inverness station if all goes well from the first full week of January if I remember rightly. Definitely should be nearly full coverage from the Aberdeen direction but can't remember the full detail on the Highland Main Line.

Is that whole section getting re signalled?

 

[Tom]

There's a new train describer and workstation replacing the NX panel but I don't know any more than that as I haven't looked closely at it.

 

[Scotrail84]

More trouble this morning. 1S25 currently 90 late and 1Y11 is currently 69 late. Both services lost all the time at Edinburgh

 

[Falcon1200]

I bet that sleeper caused you many a ball ache with the issues it encountered at times.

Indeed! The 3 month closure of the WCML at Lamington Viaduct in 2016 was a particularly challenging time, albeit huge efforts were made by all concerned to keep a service going. Thankfully I retired soon afterwards (not connected in any way.....)

 

[route101]

Would you say £90 one way seated sleeper Glasgow to London is good value?

 

[185143]

Would you say £90 one way seated sleeper Glasgow to London is good value?

In a word. No.

You could get an Avanti Superfare and a hostel for a fair bit less I'd recon.

 

[Scotrail84]

Would you say £90 one way seated sleeper Glasgow to London is good value?

Absolutely not! You'll get a flight cheaper than that.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Dec 2024 ==

Indeed! The 3 month closure of the WCML at Lamington Viaduct in 2016 was a particularly challenging time, albeit huge efforts were made by all concerned to keep a service going. Thankfully I retired soon afterwards (not connected in any way.....)

Ah yes, months of ECML running. Remember it well. Belated Happy retirement!!

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 12 Dec 2024 ==

1M16 inexplicably lost 20+ minutes outside Euston this morning meaning a 32 minute late arrival.

 

[Sealink]

Would you say £90 one way seated sleeper Glasgow to London is good value?

Having tried the seats to/from Inverness and from Aberdeen to London, I'd say no. I can justify £55 for those ironing boards! Sorry, First Class seats.

 

[_toommm_]

Having tried the seats to/from Inverness and from Aberdeen to London, I'd say no. I can justify £55 for those ironing boards! Sorry, First Class seats.

I'll justify £30/£40 with my 16-25 railcard in the seats for a 12 hour journey, but I wouldn't pay the 50% tax without my railcard in the seats when I move to a 26-30 railcard.

 

[Russel]

I'll justify £30/£40 with my 16-25 railcard in the seats for a 12 hour journey, but I wouldn't pay the 50% tax without my railcard in the seats when I move to a 26-30 railcard.

This is what I'm thinking, I'm planning to do a day trip up to Glasgow in February and fancy doing the seated sleeper with my 10 year old son on the way home, for £40ish, it's a very good price.

 

[_toommm_]

This is what I'm thinking, I'm planning to do a day trip up to Glasgow in February and fancy doing the seated sleeper with my 10 year old son on the way home, for £40ish, it's a very good price.

Not the best sleep as you can't get comfy even with them reclining, but for £40 for the journey you can't complain.

 

[Russel]

Not the best sleep as you can't get comfy even with them reclining, but for £40 for the journey you can't complain.

For a saving of around £200 minimum, over a cabin, I can live with it.

 

[Scotrail84]

Oh dear, the Fort William did not arrive in the Fort until 12:57...

For some reason the arrival time had been amended to from 09:55 to 11:00, maybe in a bid to avoid delay repay, only for them to have to issue delay repay anyway as it was still 117 late, even with the amended times.

 

[D6130]

Oh dear, the Fort William did not arrive in the Fort until 12:57...

For some reason the arrival time had been amended to from 09:55 to 11:00, maybe in a bid to avoid delay repay, only for them to have to issue delay repay anyway as it was still 117 late, even with the amended times.

Any idea what went wrong?

 

[Scotrail84]

Any idea what went wrong?

Unfortunately not, the whole lot was late into Edinburgh this morning after leaving London 11 late losing time at Bourne End which I'm sure was down to a possession overrun, it then lost more time between Northampton and Long Buckby, departed Crewe 41 late, Preston 33 late. Lost a further 20 minutes between Preston and Carlisle before taking a massive hit between Carlisle and Gretna Jn ending up being 89 late at Abington before recovering around 30 minutes before Edinburgh due to the padded times on a Sunday night. It was showing as double headed with 2x 92s on it but it could have been top and tailed as RTT doesn't show that, possibly loco issues in London?

1S25 departed Edinburgh 49L but because the arrival time in Inverness had been amended it was only 6L arriving.

1A25 departed Edinburgh 58L but ran via Fife because it was after the possession had been lifted. It arrived in Aberdeen 49L (no amended arrival time)

1Y11 departed Edinburgh 76L - assuming this was down to the complex shunt moves required to squeeze in-between the passenger day traffic at that time as well as the ECS moves from Craigentinny. It ran booked route via Airdrie so the crew likely didn't have the E + G signed. It would have inventively been caught up amongst all the day traffic in Glasgow and it was 103L by the time it got to Garelochhead. It was then 144L at Rannoch, probably having to wait to cross with the ScotRail somewhere. It eventually arrived in FTW 117L with the amended arrival time taken into account.

Why amend the times of the INV and FTW but not the Aberdeen service? Doesn't make sense to me?

 

[D6130]

Why amend the times of the INV and FTW but not the Aberdeen service? Doesn't make sense to me?

Maybe because, unlike the other portions, it doesn't have to allow for long single line sections with few passing points?....other than the very short Usan-Montrose and (sometimes) Perth-Barnhill sections.

 

[Scotrail84]

Fort William arrived in 0ver 100 late this morning but because the arrival time had been 'amended' to 12pm no compensation is due.

!M16 also arrived 69 late after encountering some sort of issue at Stoke. Compensation is due here though as the arrival times were not amended.

 

[side effect]

Fort William arrived in 0ver 100 late this morning but because the arrival time had been 'amended' to 12pm no compensation is due.

!M16 also arrived 69 late after encountering some sort of issue at Stoke. Compensation is due here though as the arrival times were not amended.

Be interesting to see how tonight's services do.

 

[Scotrail84]

Be interesting to see how tonight's services do.

FT William is leaving at 17:37 tonight, over 2 hours ahead of the scheduled departure time. I guarantee some folk will miss it. This is probably in a bid to get 'down the road' before the inevitable WHL closure due to adverse weather. Its booked to sit at garelochhead for over 2 hours.

Realtime Trains | 1B01 1950 Fort William to Edinburgh | 30/12/2024

Real-time train running information for 1B01 1950 departure from Fort William to Edinburgh on 30/12/2024. From Realtime Trains, an independent source of train running info for Great Britain.

www.realtimetrains.co.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Dec 2024 ==

Service Update for Monday 30th December.

Due to extreme weather conditions in Northern Scotland, we have made some amendments to our departure and arrival times due to speed restrictions on the railway.

Our Southbound Fort William to London service will depart Fort William at the earlier time of 17:37 and arrive in London Euston at the later time of 08:30

Our Southbound Inverness to London service will depart at the earlier time of 19:50. and arrive in London at the later time of 08:30.

Our Southbound Aberdeen service will depart as scheduled at 20:26 and arrive in London Euston at the later time of 08:30

Our Northbound London to Fort William service will depart London as scheduled at 21:15 and will arrive in Fort William at the later time of 12:00

Our Northbound London to Inverness service will depart London at 21:15 and arrive in Inverness at the later time of 10:00

 

[JamieL]

The change of timings is almost presented here as a bad thing. Surely it is anything but? It is good to see that CS are making allowances for the terrible weather here - yellow warnings for wind and snow - and adjusting their journeys accordingly. Anyone who has travelled with the CS knows they regularly push out SMS updates and, as always, those that choose not to travel with the revised timings are offered the option of a refund.

 

[Scotrail84]

The change of timings is almost presented here as a bad thing. Surely it is anything but? It is good to see that CS are making allowances for the terrible weather here - yellow warnings for wind and snow - and adjusting their journeys accordingly. Anyone who has travelled with the CS knows they regularly push out SMS updates and, as always, those that choose not to travel with the revised timings are offered the option of a refund.

Hardly a good thing if you were relying on the Sleeper to catch onward connections at the other end like a flight for example, then they change the goalposts at the 11th hour to avoid delay repay because thats effectively what they are doing.

 

[JamieL]

Hardly a good thing if you were relying on the Sleeper to catch onward connections at the other end like a flight for example, then they change the goalposts at the 11th hour to avoid delay repay because thats effectively what they are doing.

I doubt many people use the nortbound Highlander for connection to other flights, especially not the FW portion. Also I suspect passengers have been told with ample time to replan if necessary.

You really should use the CS from time to time - you would find it isn't the nasty boogeyman you seem to think it is. IMHO it is the best and one of the most reliable long distance north/south train services.

With regards the current weather, it really is looking like it will be terrible. Edinburgh have already cancelled most of tomorrow's events.

 

[Scotrail84]

I doubt many people use the nortbound Highlander for connection to other flights, especially not the FW portion. Also I suspect passengers have been told with ample time to replace if necessary.

You really should use the CS from time to time - you would find it isn't the nasty boogeyman you seem to think it is. IMHO it is the best and one of the most reliable long distance north/south train services.

Its not for me unless I absolutely have no other option.

We will certainly have to agree to disagree on that one.

 

[JamieL]

Its not for me unless I absolutely have no other option.

We will certainly have to agree to disagree on that one.

I don't think we need to agree to disagree. We can just look at the evidence. We know there are seven arrivals each night and we know you provide an indomitable service on here telling us when they are late. So every night you don't brief us on 7 specific delays, we can draw conclusions from that. We can also draw conclusions from people that use the service as to the quality and overall lived experience.

I am interested though as to why you have such a dislike of the CS. You say its "not for you" but you are one of the most prolific posters on this thread? It certainly forms an important part of your daily business then.

 

[alistairlees]

In modern railways there’s a chart for TOC punctuality. Caledonian sleeper is top.

 

[MrJeeves]

In modern railways there’s a chart for TOC punctuality. Caledonian sleeper is top.

It's certainly easier when you can simply change the arrival times to account for any potential issues at a whim!

 

[Struner]

I doubt many people use the nortbound Highlander for connection to other flights, especially not the FW portion. Also I suspect passengers have been told with ample time to replan if necessary.
[…]

Hardly a good thing if you were relying on the Sleeper to catch onward connections at the other end a flight for example, then they change the goalposts at the 11th hour to avoid delay repay because thats effectively what they are doing.

a flight for example - other examples being connections to ferries

 

[OverlordBWT]

I don't think I would out of convenient