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''Caledonian Sleeper'' is the collective name for overnight
sleeper train
The sleeping car or sleeper (often ) is a railway passenger car that can accommodate all passengers in beds of one kind or another, for the purpose of sleeping. George Pullman was the American innovator of the sleeper car.
The first such cars ...
services between London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom, the other being the ''Night Riviera
The ''Night Riviera'' is a sleeper train operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of only two sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom (the other being the
''Caledonian Sleeper'' services between London and Scotland). ...
'' which runs between London and Penzance.
A sleeper service has been run along the West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
since 24 February 1873. Sleepers were historically run on the rival East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
as well; however, all remaining sleeper services that ran on the east coast routes were withdrawn in May 1988. While InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
continued to operate what would later become known as the ''Caledonian Sleeper'', it decided to remove all seating accommodation on its remaining sleeper services during the mid-1990s. The Anglo-Scottish sleeper services were transferred to ScotRail on 5 March 1995; as a consequence of the privatisation of British Rail
The privatisation of British Rail was the process by which ownership and operation of the railways of Great Britain passed from government control into private hands. Begun in 1994, it had been completed by 1997. The deregulation of the indust ...
, on 31 March 1997, the service was privatised as a part of the wider ScotRail franchise, initially being operated by National Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
. Seated Mark 2
Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, m ...
carriages were re-added to the service alongside the Mark 3 sleeping cars, the latter were also refurbished, from January 2000.
On 17 October 2004, the ScotRail franchise and thus the Caledonian Sleeper, was transferred to FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Serco and is under the supervision of the Scottish Government. As a part of its successful bid, Serco had pledged to invest £100 million into the service, which was to be spent on, amongst other things, procuring new rolling stock. During 2019, a new fleet of
Mark 5
Mark 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Taken with the calming of the sea in , there are "four striking works hichfollow each other without a break": an exorcism, a healing, and the raisin ...
carriages were introduced, replacing the British Rail-era carriages. These are hauled by a combination of electric locomotive
An electric locomotive is a locomotive powered by electricity from overhead lines, a third rail or on-board energy storage such as a battery or a supercapacitor. Locomotives with on-board fuelled prime movers, such as diesel engines or gas ...
s (on electrified sections only) and rebuilt electro-diesel locomotive
An electro-diesel locomotive (also referred to as a dual-mode or bi-mode locomotive) is a type of locomotive that can be powered either from an electricity supply (like an electric locomotive) or by using the onboard diesel engine (like a diese ...
s; prior traction withdrawn in 2019 included , and locomotives.
Two services depart London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
each night from Sunday to Friday and travel via the West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
to Scotland. The earlier departure divides at Edinburgh
Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
into portions for Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
, Fort William and Inverness
Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...
. The later departure serves Edinburgh and Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, splitting at Carstairs
Carstairs (, Scottish Gaelic: ''Caisteal Tarrais'') is a village in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Carstairs is located east of the county town of Lanark and the West Coast Main Line runs through the village. The village is served by Carstairs r ...
. Five London-bound portions depart from these destinations each night, combining into two trains at Edinburgh and Carstairs.
Anglo-Scottish sleepers up to 1996
In February 1873, the North British Railway revealed the first sleeping car in Britain. It had been built by the Ashbury Carriage Company and was displayed at Glasgow, Edinburgh and . It became the first sleeping carriage used on British railways when it made a revenue earning trip on 24 February 1873 attached to a train at Glasgow for King's Cross via theEast Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
.
On 1 October 1873, the rival Caledonian Railway
The Caledonian Railway (CR) was a major Scottish railway company. It was formed in the early 19th century with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively extended its network and reached Edinburgh an ...
introduced a London and North Western Railway sleeping car on mail trains three days per week between Glasgow Buchanan Street and London Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
via the West Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
. The service ran from Glasgow on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and from London on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. An extra charge of ten shillings was made for a sleeping berth.
Sleeping car services were operated on both the West and East coast routes to multiple destinations for over a century, even under the nationalised railway operator British Rail. During 1976, services from King's Cross ran to Edinburgh and , and from Euston to , , , , and . There was also a service from to Glasgow and Edinburgh via the West Coast route. However, sleeper services declined in number during the latter half of the 20th century. During November 1987, it was announced that the last of the sleeper services running on the East coast routes was to be withdrawn in May 1988.
At one point, InterCity
InterCity (commonly abbreviated ''IC'' on timetables and tickets) is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe. Such trains (in contrast to regional, local, or commuter trains) generally call at m ...
was planning to remove all seating accommodation on its remaining sleeper services from May 1992. However, it instead concluded a deal with the British transport conglomerate Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...
that saw the Mark 2
Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, m ...
seating carriages retailed beyond this point. This was only a temporary reprieve however, as the Stagecoach carriages were withdrawn after 12 months.
On 5 March 1995, responsibility for operation of the Anglo-Scottish services was transferred within British Rail from InterCity West Coast to ScotRail. During the mid-1990s, British Rail had proposed to cease operating the portion of the service, however, the Highland Regional Council successfully sought a stay pending a formal consultation, after the Scottish Court of Session ruled that the correct service closure process had not been followed. Eventually, British Rail agreed to retain the Fort William portion, albeit with a reduction four sleeping carriages to only one. During 1995, the associated motorail
A motorail train or accompanied car train (ACT) is a passenger train on which passengers can take their car or automobile along with them on their journey. Passengers are carried in normal passenger carriages or in sleeping carriages on longer ...
service was withdrawn without reprieve.
The ''Caledonian Sleeper''
ScotRail
On 4 June 1996, the overnight service was relaunched under the ''Caledonian Sleeper'' brand. Each portion of the service was assigned its own identity, with the ''Night Caledonian'' to Glasgow, ''Night Scotsman'' to Edinburgh, ''Night Aberdonian'' to Aberdeen, ''Royal Highlander'' to Inverness and ''West Highlander'' to Fort William. On 31 March 1997, it became part of the ScotRail franchise which was initially operated byNational Express
National Express Group is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Birmingham, England. It operates bus, coach, train and tram services in the United Kingdom, Ireland (National Express operates Eurolines in conjunction ...
. The service continued to be operated using the same Mark 3 sleeping cars that had been operated by British Rail, but there were no suitable locomotives immediately available. Accordingly, the short-term hiring of locomotives from the West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to:
Geography Australia
* Western Australia
*Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia
* West Coast, Tasmania
**West Coast Range, mountain range in the region
Canada
* Britis ...
operator Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from ...
was implemented. The arrangement continued until March 1998, at which point the freight operator English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) took on the contract.
Starting in January 2000, seated carriages were added to the sleeping cars; these were 11 former Virgin Trains Mark 2
Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, m ...
carriages that had been refurbished at Wolverton Works
Wolverton railway works, known locally as Wolverton Works or just The Works, was established in Wolverton, Buckinghamshire, by the London and Birmingham Railway Company in 1838 at the midpoint of the route from London to Birmingham. The line w ...
, which included the installation of first class-style reclining seats throughout. In parallel with this work, the sleeping cars were also refurbished, during which time they were repainted with ScotRail's purple and blue livery.
On 17 October 2004, the ScotRail franchise, including the ''Caledonian Sleeper'' service, was transferred to FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Scottish Government announced that as part of the reletting of the ScotRail franchise from April 2015, the ''Caledonian Sleeper'' would be operated by a separate franchise. In June 2013,
Transport Scotland
Transport Scotland ( gd, Còmhdhail Alba) is the national transport agency of Scotland. It was established by the Transport (Scotland) Act 2005, and began operating on 1 January 2006 as an Executive Agency of the Scottish Government.
Organisa ...
announced Arriva
Arriva plc is a British multinational public transport company headquartered in Sunderland, England.FirstGroup
FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Serco had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. During May 2014, the franchise was awarded to Serco; at the time, the company pledged to invest £100million in new trains that would include 'en suite' rooms and a new style of club car. Accordingly, the existing Mark 2 and Mark 3 coaching stock was to be replaced, originally set to occur by 2018. On 31 March 2015, Serco Caledonian Sleepers took over the operation of the service.
In late December 2015, staff called for a two-day strike because of health and safety concerns with the trains then in use and Serco's alleged failure to address them appropriately. In September 2019, another three-day strike was held after negotiations between the RMT and Serco broke down over claims of poor staffing levels and insufficient training.
By mid-2020, the Caledonian Sleeper had considerably curtailed its services in response to the significant decline of passenger travel amid the
The northbound ''Highland Sleeper'' leaves at 21:15 (20:59 on Sundays), calling at , and to pick up passengers, and arrives at approximately six-and-a-half hours after leaving London. This leg of the journey is formed of 16 carriages and is hauled by an electric locomotive.
At Edinburgh Waverley, the train is
The ScotRail franchise inherited the coaches used by British Rail; Mark 3 sleeping coaches and
File:Caledonian Sleeper Single berth.jpg, Sleeping cabin in a Mark 3 sleeper
File:Caledonian Sleeper Seated Compartment.jpg, Saloon of a Mark 2 seated coach
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. From 15 June 2020, both passengers and staff on public transport in England, including on board the Caledonian Sleeper, were required to wear face coverings while travelling, and that anyone failing to do so would be liable to be refused travel or fined.
In late 2021, the Caledonian Sleeper was subject to further strikes over allegations of bullying and harassment of staff. It was also one of many train operators impacted by the 2022 United Kingdom railway strike
The 2022 United Kingdom railway strikes are an ongoing industrial dispute in the United Kingdom that has seen the largest instance of industrial action in the country since 1989. It commenced on 21 June after members of the National Union of Rai ...
, which was the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades. Its workers were amongst those who participated in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions. Caledonian Sleeper was only capable of operating a very minimalist timetable on any of the planned dates for the strikes due to the number of staff involved.
In October 2022 the Scottish Government announced the franchise run by Serco would end on 25 June 2023.
Current operations
Two trains are operated on six days each week (not Saturday night/Sunday morning). The ''Highland Sleeper'' has three portions that serve routes to , and . The ''Lowland Sleeper'' has two portions serving routes to and . The trains normally operate at a maximum speed of , but are authorised to travel at where line speeds permit if the train has been delayed by more than 20 minutes. Trains use theWest Coast Main Line
The West Coast Main Line (WCML) is one of the most important railway corridors in the United Kingdom, connecting the major cities of London and Glasgow with branches to Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester and Edinburgh. It is one of the busiest ...
between Scotland and London, using as their terminus. Sunday services are sometimes diverted via the East Coast Main Line
The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between London and Edinburgh via Peterborough, Doncaster, York, Darlington, Durham and Newcastle. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Great Britain running broa ...
when the West Coast route is closed for engineering work. In these cases, they still use London Euston except when the station itself is closed, or there is no possible routing into the station during engineering works, in which case they use nearby instead.
Lounges for ''Caledonian Sleeper'' customers are available at , , , , and stations, and passengers may also use lounges shared with other operators at , , and .
''Highland Sleeper''
The northbound ''Highland Sleeper'' leaves at 21:15 (20:59 on Sundays), calling at , and to pick up passengers, and arrives at approximately six-and-a-half hours after leaving London. This leg of the journey is formed of 16 carriages and is hauled by an electric locomotive.
At Edinburgh Waverley, the train is divided
Division is one of the four basic operations of arithmetic, the ways that numbers are combined to make new numbers. The other operations are addition, subtraction, and multiplication.
At an elementary level the division of two natural numb ...
into three portions; these continue north of Edinburgh to , and as separate services. The electric locomotive is uncoupled and replaced by a diesel locomotive for each of the three northbound sets. The front portion of the train continues to Fort William, the middle portion is for Aberdeen, and the rear portion runs to Inverness. These services arrive at their respective destinations in the morning of the next day.
Similarly, going southbound, three separate services depart each of Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William in the evening, hauled by a locomotive up to Edinburgh. These services are then combined to form one train at Edinburgh Waverley; the diesel locomotives are detached from each portion and a is attached to then take the full-length, 16-car train to London. The train continues to London Euston with intermediate stops at Preston and Crewe for alighting passengers only (southbound trains do not call at Watford Junction), arriving in London the following morning.
The Inverness portion of the train consists of six sleeper coaches, one seated carriage and one "club car" (lounge car), all running through to/from London. The Aberdeen set consists of between two and four sleeper coaches (depending on demand) plus one seated carriage and one lounge car, all running throughout. The Fort William set consists only of two to four sleeper coaches between London and Edinburgh; the seated and lounge carriages are attached/detached at Edinburgh Waverley for the EdinburghFort William leg of the journey. This means that any seated passengers travelling between England and stations on the Fort William route are required to use the seated carriages intended for Inverness or Aberdeen, and change carriages at Edinburgh Waverley.
''Lowland Sleeper''
Going northbound, the ''Lowland Sleeper'' departs London Euston at 23:50 (23:30 on Sundays), calling at to pick up passengers. The train then continues with no intermediate calls until before reaching . Here the traindivides
In mathematics, a divisor of an integer n, also called a factor of n, is an integer m that may be multiplied by some integer to produce n. In this case, one also says that n is a multiple of m. An integer n is divisible or evenly divisible by ...
into two portions: the front eight carriages continue to with one intermediate stop at , while the rear eight carriages reverse at Carstairs and continue non-stop to , both portions arriving at their respective destinations the following morning. Carlisle, Carstairs and Motherwell are all served for alighting passengers only.
Similarly, in the southbound direction, two separate services depart both Glasgow Central (calling at Motherwell) and Edinburgh Waverley, and combine into one at Carstairs. The train then calls at Carlisle, before running non-stop through to Watford Junction (served for alighting passengers only) and terminating at London Euston the next morning. Motherwell, Carstairs and Carlisle are all served to pick up passengers only.
Rolling stock
The ScotRail franchise inherited the coaches used by British Rail; Mark 3 sleeping coaches and Mark 2
Mark 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. In this chapter, the first arguments between Jesus and other Jewish religious teachers appear. Jesus heals a paralyzed man and forgives his sins, m ...
seated carriages, some of which were fitted out as lounge cars where refreshments could be obtained. During 2019, these were replaced by Mark 5
Mark 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Mark in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. Taken with the calming of the sea in , there are "four striking works hichfollow each other without a break": an exorcism, a healing, and the raisin ...
carriages; the new rolling stock was first operated on the Lowland services from April, and subsequently on the Highland services from October. Heavy maintenance on the carriage stock was performed at Inverness TMD
Inverness TMD is a railway traction maintenance depot situated in Inverness, Scotland. The depot, visible from Inverness station, is operated by ScotRail
ScotRail Trains Limited, trading as ScotRail ( gd, Rèile na h-Alba), is a Scottish ...
until April 2015, when the work was contracted out to Alstom
Alstom SA is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer operating worldwide in rail transport markets, active in the fields of passenger transportation, signalling, and locomotives, with products including the AGV, TGV, Eurostar, Avelia ...
and transferred to Polmadie Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot
Polmadie Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot (T&RSMD), also known as Polmadie Depot, Polmadie Traction Depot and Polmadie Carriage Maintenance Depot (Glasgow) is a railway maintenance depot on the West Coast Main Line in the Polmadie ...
.
Two types of motive power are used for the ''Caledonian Sleeper''. On the electrified routes between Glasgow/Edinburgh and London electric locomotives haul the trains. There were none of these included in the ScotRail franchises, instead they contracted Virgin Trains
Virgin Trains (legal name West Coast Trains Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom owned by Virgin Rail Group, a joint venture between Virgin Group and Stagecoach, which operated the InterCity West Coast franchise from ...
to provide . During March 1998, these were replaced by English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) .
, Serco has a contract with GB Railfreight who use . However, due to mechanical problems, a Class 90 locomotive was used, initially hired from DB Cargo UK
DB Cargo UK (formerly DB Schenker Rail UK and English, Welsh & Scottish Railway (EWS)), is a British rail freight company headquartered in Doncaster, England.
The company was established in early 1995 as ''North & South Railways'', successful ...
, but later changed to Freightliner. From 2015 until 2019, AC Locomotive Group heritage and were used to move empty carriages in London and Glasgow and occasionally operated the overnight passenger services.
On the unelectrified routes in Scotland, the trains were hauled by EWS to Fort William and to Aberdeen and Inverness until June 2001 when began to replace the Class 47. The Class 67 units were also used on the Fort William route from June 2006. Four locomotives were fitted with cast iron brakes and restricted to for this additional service. When GB Railfreight started to provide the trains and crews for the Serco franchise in 2015, it was planned to use rebuilt . The first of these came into service in February 2016.
Current fleet
Past fleet
Former train types operated by Caledonian Sleeper include:Incidents
During April 2019, new Mark 5 carriages were introduced to service, however, the inaugural journey was more than three hours late arriving atLondon Euston
Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city rail ...
. Various other services through 2019 were reported as delayed on account of "technical faults".
Services run joined between London and Scotland where they are split into shorter trains to serve multiple destinations. After being split at on 1 August 2019, a brake isolated valve was closed preventing control of the train brakes from the locomotive, resulting in the Edinburgh portion running past the platform at . The incident was investigated by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch
The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) is a British government agency that independently investigates rail accidents in the United Kingdom and the Channel Tunnel in order to find a cause, not to lay blame. Created in 2005, it is required by ...
with two recommendations. One was addressed to the Rail Safety and Standards Board
The Rail Safety and Standards Board (RSSB) is a British independent company limited by guarantee. Interested parties include various rail industry organisations, including Network Rail, train operating companies (TOCs), and rolling stock compa ...
to change the wording of the railway rule book to make it clear that the brake continuity test should be undertaken after all coupling-related activities have been completed. The second was addressed to Caledonian Sleeper to review the vulnerability of the isolating cocks on its rolling stock, to prevent inadvertent operation by persons or objects.
Notes
References
External links
* {{Rail franchises in Great Britain, state=collapsed Named passenger trains of British Rail Night trains of the United Kingdom Railway franchises in the United Kingdom Railway services introduced in 1996 Rail transport in Scotland Serco Transport in Aberdeen Transport in Dundee Transport in Edinburgh Transport in Glasgow Transport in Highland (council area) 1996 establishments in the United Kingdom Companies of Scotland