Caledonian Sleeper: A work in progress

To Scotland by Caledonian Sleeper. There’s always a thrill to boarding a Sleeping car train at Euston, with the thought of waking as the Highlands slip by!

My recent trip was only my second aboard the new Sleeper stock. My first was plagued by a missing coach, a whistling window seal, and air-conditioning stuck on cold (RAIL 881). Would my second be better?

In short, no. This time, staff told me that my en suite berth had no water. That meant no shower, no toilet, and no handbasin. There was a toilet at the end of the coach, but its handbasin sits in a recess so is useless for washing anything other than hands.

My carriage host raised the prospect of a switch to another berth if other passengers failed to show. I didn’t see her again, so can best assume there were no ‘no shows’.

I took to Twitter to see whether I was simply unlucky. Reaction was 50:50. Several replies praised the service, but many suggested my experience was normal.

Reinforcing this view, I overheard a woman the next morning telling staff that her berth also had no water. Others on Twitter noted the high fares, leaving implicit the suggestion that the service should be better.

Whether or not Twitter actually reflected reality, it seems that Caledonian Sleeper has more work to do to raise its service to a consistently good level. For now, my view is that CS over-promises and under-delivers.