Awakening Sleepers
Eleven years ago ANDREW RODEN ran the campaign that saved the Night Riviera from closure. Today, he reports first-hand on how the value and popularity of Britain’s Sleepers’ is booming
Take a trip on the Caledonian Sleeper and the Night Riviera, and find out why Britain’s Sleeper services are booming.
It isn’t very often that a genuinely good news story begins with a funeral, but Steve and Tricia May’s experience highlights just how valuable Britain’s Sleeper trains really are.
They had to travel from Bracknell to Inverness at short notice for a funeral, but quickly found themselves with a problem. The flights from London were £1,500 return each, and the hotels in Inverness were fully booked, ruling out daytime trains on the day before and after. As much as they wanted to attend, it looked as if they wouldn’t be able to make it.
Steve was a career railwayman and was well aware of Caledonian sleeper's service, but thought it would be fully booked or more expensive than flying. He made the call and at the last gasp he and his wife secured the last cabin on July 18’s London Euston to Inverness. They were able to pay their respects, and still return home the following night. That Steve and tricia saved money is less relevant than the fact that the Sleeper was the only way they could possibly have got to Inverness when they needed to most.
This is what these lifeline trains do: they allow people to make connections - for business, leisure and family - in a way that no
other mode of transport does.
With such vast distances from the Highlands of Scotland to the English centre of power in London, perhaps it’s no surprise that the Scottish Sleepers have long been popular with politicians and business folk. The Edinburgh and Glasgow portions are also very busy, even though there are good rail and air links with London. For the Highlands the tourist market is particularly important - and the summer is peak tourist season, as witnessed by the fact that virtually all of the Highland Sleepers are fully booked for the summer.
But all this flies in the face of what’s happening in much of Europe. The proposed Channel Tunnel service Nightstar was axed in the early-2000s and the surviving coaches exported to Canada ( RAIL 699). France has axed all bar three of its overnight trains. Many international services have also been cut, prompted by the advent of budget airlines and the development of high-speed rail linking cities. In much of Europe Sleeper trains are firmly in decline, not helped by a lack of investment and promotion.
But not in Scotland, nor for that matter in southwest England. Since taking over the services from ScotRail in April 2015, Caledonian Sleeper (CS) has invested heavily in promotion. The Scottish Government is likewise investing in new coaches - being built by Spanish company CAF, they are set to be a world away from the 1980s Mk 3s, which are still substantially as built.
CS has made a concerted effort to maximise the train’s Scottish credentials, improving catering provision and providing bookings 12 months in advance. The new trains will offer a much wider range of accommodation and potentially increase capacity. The challenge for CS will be to ensure that modernday expectations are met without pricing customers off the train and onto other modes. But on July 18, heading north, it seems that demand is not a problem - the train is fully booked.
There is something magical about waking up in the Highlands and (as sleeping car attendant Andrew delivers breakfast) eating on the move. With a 20-minute connection for the Elgin train at Inverness, it is the only way to have a substantial meal before lunchtime. Managing two cars a night, Andrew and the other stewards do a superb job of looking after his passengers - and ensuring they’re awake, fed and watered in time for their departure.
With business done in Elgin, there’s time to explore Inverness on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Caledonian Sleeper is headquartered and undertakes its train maintenance in the city, demonstrating its commitment to the Highlands. And for First Class passengers there’s a special lounge over the road from the station - a contrast to GWR’s approach, but given the earlier departure times not an unreasonable one.
On the return it’s the same crew, and the train is again fully booked. Dinner in the bar car offers a chance to sample the catering, and it is definitely an improvement on the last time I took the Sleeper to the Highlands some eight years ago. Served at-seat in the still very splendid lounge car with its comfortable
We would want to see a position where we have to expand capacity on the Fort William and Inverness portions in summer, where we’re fully booked - and can then perhaps start making a case for additional rolling stock. Peter Strachan, Managing Director, Caledonian Sleeper
sofas and separate tables and chairs, the quality is excellent and the prices very fair. You could easily spend more at one of Inverness’ restaurants on something not nearly as good.
The only challenge with the bar car is getting a seat - seasoned travellers wanting to eat or have a drink tend to make it their first port of call. Thankfully, passengers can take food or drink back to their cabins, easing the pressure and ensuring that everyone is served.
It is sometimes said that sleeping car trains are less ‘sleepers’ and more ‘dozers’, but many passengers find the motion of the train relaxing and getting used to the bed is no different from staying in a new hotel bed. After a couple of nights travelling the body becomes used to the motion.
Arrival at London Euston is spot on-time, and the sheer length of the train - which in the case of the Highland Sleeper carries the Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness portions - fills the station’s platforms. It is the longest scheduled domestic passenger train in Britain.
The platform is crowded with people disembarking, usually with luggage and often with children, still wide-eyed at the excitement of having been to sleep in a bed on the train.
For Steve and Tricia the Caledonian Sleeper didn’t simply get them to Scotland and back, it allowed them to say goodbye to a dearly loved friend when there was no other way possible. For those holidaymakers connecting with flights, businesspeople heading for meetings and politicians (fewer at this time of year with Parliament about to go on recess), the Sleeper makes vital connections.
As for me, the Scottish Sleepers are only part of the story of Britain’s overnight trains. On July 20, after a day in the capital, it’s time to take the Night Riviera to Hayle in west Cornwall.
Usually the Night Riviera stock - four or five Sleeper coaches ( but sometimes loading to six at peak times), a restaurant car and two day coaches - is standing at Paddington Platform 1 by 2100, with passengers able to board at around 2230. Not tonight. 2100 passes… and then 2130 with no sign of the train. Sleeping berth passengers are directed to the First Class lounge at Paddington (regardless of ticket type, Great Western Railway allows access to the facility for those with a berth), and asked to wait.
The clock ticks on. 2200… normal boarding time approaches with no sign of the train. Has it failed at Old Oak Common? Will a High Speed Train be scrambled to replace it (a rare but not unknown occurrence)?
At the time passengers would normally be directed to their cabins, Night Riviera steward Tareena and her colleagues enter the lounge, establishing which coaches the passengers are in and then booking them onto the train. They aren’t sure why the stock has been delayed, but seem confident it will arrive.
Booking passengers in now will save time later, and ensure that people can get to their beds early - particularly important for those with young children and babies who are coping brilliantly and quietly with the unexpected delay, but who are tired. It’s an intelligent and considered piece of railway operation.
Eventually the coaches arrive, and after pre-boarding checks of the train the doors are opened, with most passengers heading into their cabins. Just like the Scottish Sleepers, the Night Riviera is fully booked (as is often the case).
But not all passengers head straight to bed. In the lounge car (a rather more Spartan affair than that on the Caledonian Sleeper, but still perfectly functional and with 2+1 First Class seats at tables) are two returning holidaymakers heading home to Cornwall.
For Shona and Simon Cave, the Night Riviera was the only way they could get home without having to spend a night in an expensive hotel in London and then taking the lengthy journey back to west Cornwall on the following day.
Their flight from Europe was scheduled to land at Gatwick at 1600, and the last day train leaves Paddington at 1903. If everything ran to time and there were no delays in getting to Blackfriars and then Paddington, they could have made it - but even a 20-minute delay would have meant they would have missed their train home, leaving them with few
The Night Riviera is going from strength to strength. It’s crucial for people heading from Cornwall, in particular, and there’s nothing like waking up as you pass St Michael’s Mount nearing home, or starting your holiday. Dan Panes, Spokesman, Great Western Railway
These lifeline trains allow people to make connections - for business, leisure and family - in a way that no other mode of transport does.
options. The Night Riviera departure time of 2345 gave them a much better safety margin. As it turned out, they would (just) have made the 1903, but for the Caves it seemed a far better and infinitely less stressful option to opt for the overnight train. Many others travelling to the South West make an identical calculation.
The Caves are enjoying a drink as the train eases out of Paddington, relaxing after a long day of travelling and knowing that they’re on the final leg of a long journey with just a short walk home when they leave the train in west Cornwall. It is their first time on the train, and even though the sleeping berths are what an estate agent might describe as ‘bijou’, they seem impressed with the standard of the facilities and their upkeep.
The service on the Night Riviera differs from its Scottish counterparts. A much later departure time allows passengers to get a meal in London or at one of Paddington’s food outlets, so there is less focus on serving food (although with the brasserie lounge car in the refurbished trains this is set to change). It’s more of a drinks and snacks service, with all berth passengers offered a drink and light breakfast in the morning rather than an optional paid-for breakfast.
It suits the needs of the market well, given how early the train calls at stations through Devon and much of Cornwall, but the attentiveness, friendliness and expertise of the staff is every bit as good as on the Caledonian Sleeper trains. And when the refurbished stock arrives (just as with the new trains in Scotland), it seems set to transform the service’s appeal. The train arrives at Hayle spot on-time at 0735 (it arrives at Penzance at 0753), giving the likes of myself a crucial extra half-day or more to work, and getting the Caves home much earlier than they could otherwise have been.
When in 2005 the famous hotelier Olga Polizzi described the Night Riviera as the umbilical cord linking Devon and Cornwall with the outside world, she wasn’t exaggerating. It was and remains the only way of reaching the capital from Cornwall before 0900, doing a full day’s business and then returning home.
For a region where incomes are far below average and house prices high, this ability for businesses to punch above their weight in London is vital. The Night Riviera’s role in creating and sustaining jobs in the Royal Duchy is out of all proportion to the numbers of passengers it carries. The same can also be said of CS’s Highland Sleepers.
The Night Riviera is set for a major upgrade, although not with new coaches as is the
case with CS. Because the train doesn’t receive subsidy (in fact, it actually makes a profit), the Mk 3s will instead receive a major revamp, including transformations to sleeping and seated accommodation as well as a brasserie-style lounge car.
The importance of the train to the region is demonstrated by local authority investment from Cornwall County Council - a body that in 2005 seemed lukewarm at best about the service.
Great Western Railway is also committed to the train, and spokesman Dan Panes is enthusiastic: “The Night Riviera is going from strength to strength. It not only needs to be maintained, but built on. It’s crucial for people heading from Cornwall, in particular, and there’s nothing like waking up as you pass St Michael’s Mount nearing home, or starting your holiday. The fact that we’re adding carriages and undertaking a radical refurbishment shows that we really believe in the service.”
So why are Britain’s Sleeper trains doing so well when their counterparts elsewhere are often in retreat?
Caledonian Sleeper Managing Director Peter Strachan believes that for the Scottish trains, a combination of growing dissatisfaction with the airlines and increased awareness (as claimed by 95% of those surveyed) of the trains’ benefits following their separation from ScotRail have made a big difference. The new trains and the publicity surrounding them has also helped, as has the upgrade in the onboard service being offered.
But there are other factors at play that apply equally to the Night Riviera. There is an undeniable magic and romance about overnight trains, and increasingly passengers are choosing to make it part of their holiday experience (something I witnessed first- hand on both services). CS is working with tourist bodies to encourage this trend, to locations such as the Cairngorms and the West Highlands in particular.
And even though the distances are small compared with some services in Europe, daytime journey times between London and west Cornwall and the Highlands remain long.
For those who live in the Highlands and the South West, the Sleepers remain a genuine lifeline service - something recognised by the Scottish Government and Cornwall Council. The practical reasons for using the trains - the connections available from London and the early time of arrival - remain as strong as ever.
For CS, annual growth is in the double digit percentage range. And while neither CS nor GWR could provide absolute figures, the fact that on many (if not most) summer nights the trains are fully booked hints at a real appetite for them - and by extension a lot of latent but unfulfilled demand. The booking office in Penzance receives so many enquiries about the Night Riviera that it’s reckoned demand is such that an additional train could be justified during the summer months.
So where next? New and refurbished trains should be in or entering service in 2018, a move that should give the Sleepers a boost. But beyond that, Strachan offers perhaps the most exciting vision of what could happen in a decade’s time: “We would want to see a position where we have to expand capacity on the Fort William and Inverness portions in summer, when we’re fully booked - and can then perhaps start making a case for additional rolling stock.
“We could be thinking about serving Oban and other locations in Scotland - and if the core route from London to Scotland is full, maybe even start to think about serving the Midlands and the South West. Flybe doesn’t fly from the Midlands and the South West to Scotland for charity - there’s clearly a potential market there.”
It’s all a far cry from 11 years ago, when despite the efforts of businesses, politicians and more than 7,000 campaigners in the South West and beyond, it looked as if we might be holding a wake for the Night Riviera - and perhaps the Scottish trains. Certainly, Strachan believes that without devolution, the Caledonian Sleeper would be no more.
Today, Britain’s Sleeper trains are thriving in a way that they haven’t in generations, and they are more secure than they have been for decades. Those umbilical cords linking the Highlands of Scotland and Cornwall with London are as vital as ever, and there is a recognition within the railways and in government that although the numbers they carry are small compared with a daytime train, the connections they allow people to make are of immense importance.
Britain has reawakened to the value of the Sleepers, and its railways are leading Europe in their promotion and development. The challenge is not now about managing decline - it’s about meeting surging demand.
A good friend once told me how when he travelled to London with his then young daughter that she went to sleep in Penzance and woke up in the capital what felt like 15 minutes later. Nothing else can get remotely close to that sort of journey time, so perhaps it’s no wonder the Sleepers are proving so popular once again. It is, by any measure, a quite remarkable revival.
Britain has reawakened to the value of the Sleepers, and its railways are leading Europe in their promotion and development. The challenge is not now about managing decline - it’s about meeting surging demand.