Caledonian Sleeper

[skifans]

I've used Caledonian Sleeper a few times to go skiing in Scotland. As well as Aviemore there are good bus connections at Spean Bridge for Nevis Range and Bridge of Orchy for Glencoe. One of the reasons I go down that route is the ability to cancel until 1 week before. My general experience is that daytime trains at that point are too expensive for me to consider. So I often take a put on a couple of sleeper tickets. Though sometimes even a week isn't enough notice for the Scottish weather!

 

[Siemens Trains]

There's no way a ski train to Scotland would work - unless people could rely on being able to book just a couple of days in advance after looking at the forecast. And most of the time it would be empty because there's no skiiing.

Indeed. Also on occasions we receive ski-able snow, roads and railway lines often become impassable making public transport across the country even less convenient than normal!

Nice idea though.

 

[norbitonflyer]

If you want lots of crayons, then run the spare train once or twice a week to Bourg-Saint-Maurice in France, which is just about the only place you could do this without waking everyone up at Lille, as it has passport and customs facilities for Eurostar, but that is a lot of crayons.

I doubt the mark 5s have the4 necessary safety clearances to use the Tunnel (at least not with passengers on board - were they delivered that way?)

 

[alistairlees]

I doubt the mark 5s have the4 necessary safety clearances to use the Tunnel (at least not with passengers on board - were they delivered that way?)

They were, 8.5 years ago. Almost a decade old, now...

 

[LickeyIncliner]

I wonder whether there are still any regulars who work in London for much of the week and catch one of the sleepers on Thursday or Friday evening to spend the weekend at the family home in Scotland?
When Kirsty Wark was a presenter on BBC Newsnight she used to get whizzed to Euston to catch the Glasgow sleeper straight after her Newsnight stint. Similarly it at one time suited some of the Scottish MPs to utilise a sleeper to get home at weekends.

The CS passenger survey referenced earlier by @styles (post 19245) reports 3% of respondents giving their reason for travel as "Regular travel between home and workplace" (p82). The survey covered the a sample of journeys made between 7 December 2025 and 31 March 2026, when the proportion of regular work-related passengers is probably higher than in summer.

 

[marshlinker]

They were, 8.5 years ago. Almost a decade old, now...

Are they going to be fitted with Gangplanks to reach UIC gauge platforms?

 

[Mag_seven]

Looks like the northbound lowlander expired somewhere between Crewe and Warrington last night.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C04573/2026-08-03/detailed#allox_id=0

This service is partially cancelled
This service was cancelled between Warrington Bank Quay and Glasgow Central due to a problem with the traction equipment (MB).

 

[dk1]

Waking up in Warrington

 

[Bill57p9]

Looks like the stock is on the move - slightly surprisingly headed for Glasgow Central rather than straight to Polmadie. Surely not...
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:01392/2026-08-04/detailed

 

[johnr57]

At high speed ! planned for 36mph max

 

[D6130]

Just passed Polmadie depot on a Glasgow-Lanark service and noticed a (demic?) class 92, in CS livery with pan down, stabled in the dead-end sidings alongside the heavy repair workshop. Unfortunately I was unable to positively ID it. Meanwhile 92 038 - also in CS livery - was stabled wth pan up alongside the cleaning and servicing shed, having presumably worked last night's Lowlander from Euston....or its ECS from Glasgow Central.

 

[Tetragon213]

I priced the Sleeper for a regular trip to Aberdeen, booking 3 months out. £290 for a Club, £210 for a Classic. Or I can pay BA £80, another £80 for one of the airport hotels, save either £50 or £130 and have a decent nights sleep too. It's not a serious mode of transport for most people travelling on business.

The problem there is, some companies (including mine) have a completely bizarre policy of "NO FLIGHTS EVER" if an "alternative" exists... even if said journey is impractical or downright uncomfortable while being more expensive.

Cally is a bit of a tourist trap, or for people with truly bizarre itineraries and restrictions.

 

[185143]

Waking up in Warrington

Some of us have to do that on a daily basis if you don't mind!

 

[hexagon789]

At high speed ! planned for 36mph max

VSTP, so multiply by 2.2 to get the true speed = 80mph

 

[mq90]

The problem there is, some companies (including mine) have a completely bizarre policy of "NO FLIGHTS EVER" if an "alternative" exists... even if said journey is impractical or downright uncomfortable while being more expensive.

Cally is a bit of a tourist trap, or for people with truly bizarre itineraries and restrictions.

I don’t think that policy is bizarre at all, on the contrary given the summer we’re having… Now I make you right about the rest of it.

 

[SuspectUsual]

VSTP, so multiply by 2.2 to get the true speed = 80mph

Sorry, I don’t understand that, why is that the case?

 

[hexagon789]

Sorry, I don’t understand that, why is that the case?

Because a long-standing issue meant that details of VSTP paths had their quoted speeds in m/s instead of mph (the conversion rate is approximately 2.2).

RTT compensated for this by doing the conversion itself.

Network Rail later amended the VSTP data to show the correct speed, however RTT still applies the 2.2 conversion rate, so any speed given on a VSTP schedule has to be multiplied by 2.2 and rounded to the nearest whole 5mph to obtain the true timing speed.

80mph also matches the usual sleeper maximum timed speed.

 

[D6130]

80mph also matches the usual sleeper maximum timed speed.

....and the maximum permitted speed of the class 92 locomotives.

 

[43096]

....and the maximum permitted speed of the class 92 locomotives.

Class 92s are 140km/h max speed (~87mph), are they not?

 

[TheWierdOne]

I don’t think that policy is bizarre at all, on the contrary given the summer we’re having… Now I make you right about the rest of it.

Indeed, unless you are doing a trip from say Cornwall to Inverness or involving an outlying island it’s not unreasonable to have a blanket ban on internal flights with exceptions only on a case by case basis. My current employer works on this rule, and the only flights I’m aware of recently that anyone took was for an inspection visit to a supplier in Northern Ireland, and even that I believe was only because speed was necessary under the circumstances, otherwise the trip members may well have been told to rail and sail.

 

[hexagon789]

....and the maximum permitted speed of the class 92 locomotives.

Technically it's 87mph for the 92s, and I believe they can run at that speed on the sleepers if sufficiently late to recoup time if I understand rightly.

(The 90s used to run at 100mph to regain time if more than an hour late on the sleepers I seem to recall.)

 

[GordonT]

Looks like the stock is on the move - slightly surprisingly headed for Glasgow Central rather than straight to Polmadie. Surely not...
https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:01392/2026-08-04/detailed

Not sure but perhaps there are staff and "stuff" which need to be decanted at Central in the first instance?

 

[RGM654]

There is no depot in London that can easily and efficiently service both Euston and Kings Cross so you essentially have to pick one, of which Euston is the better choice as it is larger, has the already established Wembley depot/stabling yard and has the facilities at the station.

What is even the need to run the Edinburgh train from Kings Cross unless you intend to stop trains at Newcastle, Berwick etc.?

Instead of splitting the Highlander at Edinburgh, which is a massive detour for both services, with the reduced complexity of the splitting now that the Inverness service is seperate, why don't you look for somewhere else to split, for example Motherwell , meaning the journeys become far quicker, especially making the Fort William arrival earlier than the current 10:00.

Additionally, the Inverness service running seperately would only be sustainable during the summer months, with the units running more than half empty any other time.

Separate Inverness service?

 

[CN12]

Arriving into Preston PCD this morning at 09:00.

 

[Tetragon213]

Indeed, unless you are doing a trip from say Cornwall to Inverness or involving an outlying island it’s not unreasonable to have a blanket ban on internal flights with exceptions only on a case by case basis. My current employer works on this rule, and the only flights I’m aware of recently that anyone took was for an inspection visit to a supplier in Northern Ireland, and even that I believe was only because speed was necessary under the circumstances, otherwise the trip members may well have been told to rail and sail.

Which is all well and good, until you've suffered the indignity of travel by CrossCountry and look more dishevelled than a vagrant who has just spent 6 hours on a hike, or in the sleeper's case (from my last experience with Cally) arriving having had a fairly miserable night's sleep into Birmingham International almost an hour late, and have a long day ahead having slept for (at best) 4 and a half hours because of the Mk5's shaking and "DUN DUN, DUN DUN" over every piece of pointwork on the WCML. And last time out I shared that fare with a family member, which still cost £180 per person; by comparison, as alluded to earlier, flights and a hotel can be quite a bit cheaper while still offering a proper night's sleep in a bed that doesn't shake like a leaf in the wind. For a solo traveller you're looking at something on the order of £290 without any extras included. That said, Cally's food options do a wonderful job of cheering you up if you have the money to spare for it.

To this day I still have no explanation for why my train was so delayed leaving Edinburgh, although (as said family member alluded to at breakfast) that delay was nowhere near beating hers on the one and only occasion she'd used the Cally before I was born, where she was about 2 hours late into London... damned near missed her slot with the passport office.

 

[dk1]

Some of us have to do that on a daily basis if you don't mind!

Oh mate. Trust me. No offence. I’ve spent some excellent Grand National weekends staying at The Village hotel and getting very very messy in Flares

 

[Sealink]

Just received this text about tonight's Highland service, from London.


I'm sorry to tell you that we are unable to serve any hot food on tonights service.

This is because of a technical issue with the power supply in the Club Car.

We will have a selection of cold snacks and drinks available and in the morning, a limited breakfast menu will be offered.

Please ask the onboard crew for details before ordering.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard and if you have any questions, please speak to a member of our onboard team or contact us on Live Chat at www.sleeper.scot

 

[styles]

Just received this text about tonight's Highland service, from London.


I'm sorry to tell you that we are unable to serve any hot food on tonights service.

This is because of a technical issue with the power supply in the Club Car.

We will have a selection of cold snacks and drinks available and in the morning, a limited breakfast menu will be offered.

Please ask the onboard crew for details before ordering.

We look forward to welcoming you onboard and if you have any questions, please speak to a member of our onboard team or contact us on Live Chat at www.sleeper.scot

I'd be asking for some compensation if I'd had my cooked breakfast downgraded to the cold options.

 

[Sealink]

I'm in peasant class so no breakfast included amyway

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 4 Aug 2026 ==

Looks like the northbound lowlander expired somewhere between Crewe and Warrington last night.

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C04573/2026-08-03/detailed#allox_id=0

Nothing from Glasgow tonight btw

Due to an operational incident, tonight's Glasgow Central to London Euston Caledonian Sleeper service will start its journey from Edinburgh Waverley and will no longer call at Glasgow Central, Motherwell or Carstairs.

 

[Krokodil]

The problem there is, some companies (including mine) have a completely bizarre policy of "NO FLIGHTS EVER" if an "alternative" exists... even if said journey is impractical or downright uncomfortable while being more expensive.

Out of interest, do they ever send you long haul? Because in many cases an alternative technically exists (or did before the Russians decided that civilised society wasn't for them), but will often take at least a week.

Southampton to New York on the QM2 (albiet more polluting than the flight). Europe to Beijing could be done by train in the past, it won't be so easy to get a Russian visa now. From China there are ferries on towards South Korea and Japan.