posted
There have been reports of the continuing decline of overnight trains in the EU. Not so in the UK according to this article from Trains.com. Also in UK in the Night Riviera continues to operate as shown in this page from Seat61 website.
An excerpt from Trains: "Spanish rail equipment manufacturer CAF has signed a $225 million contract to build 75 cars for use on the “Caledonian Sleeper” overnight sleeper services connecting London with the Scottish cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness, Aberdeen, and Fort William"
Good news for all us anglophile railfans.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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Interesting to learn that there remains a market for the overnight Sleeper in the UK, where on the Continent, Sleeper is fast becoming a Couchette, even if they have dreamed up cute names like City Night, but then away from the Eurostar, there is not much in the UK of Continent level HSR (TGV, ICE, AVE, whatever).
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
You're right, I don't remember a lounge on our '91 trip. But remember a very pleasant breakfast in the diner with a pot of tea and beautiful country on our way to Inverness.
Posts: 2397 | From: Camden, SC | Registered: Mar 2006
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posted
Reminds me of my first trip across the pond in 1988.......
With my 14-day BritRailPass in hand......there I was on a Strathclyde commuter train heading into Glasgow at 7am after having just crossed the Atlantic on an Air Canada L-1011 in 4 hours and 20 minutes.
I spent the day touring around the city planning to get a hotel later that afternoon when I found out I could get an “InterCity Sleeper” for a very reasonable supplement to my First Class Pass and at a fraction of what a hotel would cost me. I was aware of the sleepers but not of the extensive network that was still available in 1988:
That first evening I boarded the “Night Limited” and headed for London and the start of my 14 nights of riding Intercity Sleepers. You could usually get on awhile before departure then remain aboard long after arrival in the morning.......and there was always a wake-up call with tea and biscuits.
Posts: 239 | Registered: Feb 2004
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I criss-crossed the UK on that trip and certainly got the value out of my Pass. I would visit an area for a day or hop on a fast IC125 and return by Sleeper that evening. I rode the “Night Riviera” to Penzance and was there only long enough to cross the platform and head back to London. (Penzance Sleeper (left) - IC125 to London (right)
There were still short overnight ScotRail Sleepers available. One was: Depart Glasgow at 2330 and into Inverness at 0430 in plenty of time to get the 0630 train to Thurso......an enjoyable ride as far north as you can go.......then back to Inverness for one of the longer Sleeper journeys: Depart at 1930 and into Euston the next morning at 0640.
And another long Sleeper ride: After a day riding out to Mallaig and back.....I boarded a London bound sleeper in Fort William at 1730.....Then the long climb up to Corrour looking out onto the snow swept Rannoch Moor under a bright moon while enjoying the Glenfiddich the Attendant had just brought me!
posted
The sleeper section to Fort William is widely regarded as the most scenic sleeper journey in the UK. Bearing in mind the UK is relatively small and rail speeds mostly fairly high, the trains run at a lower speed so they don't get to their destinations too early. The Fort William section is long after even winter daylight though.
Just bear in mind the economy sleepers sleep two and you'll be assigned a roommate of the same gender if you don't book both berths. However, sleeper fares are usually pretty cheap - I've seen Night Riviera (to Penzance) berths as low as £25/US$38 before (on top of the rail fare).
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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Mr. Mayo I have to wonder if BR ever ran Sleepers to Mallaig. That ride is even more scenic West of Ft. William.
I understand that today it has become the lair of the Tourist trains that want a pile of Quid to see what I saw during '86 as part of a Brit Rail pass. Oh well, to view the CP through the Rockies nowadays, that runs "heap big wampum" on Rocky Mountaineer. I got to see that during '65 using a Faresaver ticket, which was CP's "response" to CN's "last hurrah" passenger service initiative.
Finally off topic, I have to wonder why the UP hasn't kicked Amtrak off the Rio Grande in favor of a private operator who will make Rocky Mountaineer look cheap.
Posts: 9976 | From: Clarendon Hills, IL USA (BNSF Chicago Sub MP 18.71) | Registered: Apr 2002
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posted
You are quite right, Mr. Norman, the Mallaig section is superior. However, I don't think sleepers have (ever? in recent times?) gone that far. I know there is a servicing depot in Fort William, presumably dealing with laundry and other cleaning, plus supplies, which there is not in Mallaig.
-------------------- Geoff M. Posts: 2426 | From: Apple Valley, CA | Registered: Sep 2000
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