The sleeping car or sleeper (often wagon-lit ) 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.
145-614: Caledonian Sleeper is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland , 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 , which runs between London and Penzance . A sleeper service has been run along the West Coast Main Line since 24 February 1873. Sleepers were historically run on
290-694: A Family Bedroom for as many as two adults and two children; and an "Accessible Bedroom" (formerly "Special Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion; plus toilets and a shower. The Viewliner cars contain an Accessible Bedroom (formerly "Special Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion, with an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; two Bedrooms (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; "Roomettes" (formerly "Economy Bedrooms", "Standard Bedrooms", or "Compartments") for one or two travelers, each Roomette containing its own unenclosed toilet and washing facilities; and
435-418: A London–Glasgow time of 4 hours 8 minutes. Some projects that were removed from the modernisation as a result of the de-scoping, such as a flyover at Norton Bridge station, were later restarted. A £250 million project to grade-separate the tracks at Norton Bridge that allowed for increased service frequency as well as improved line-speeds was completed in spring 2016. Other projects such as
580-588: 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 Edinburgh Waverley . The incident was investigated by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch with two recommendations. One was addressed to the Rail Safety and Standards Board to change the wording of the railway rule book to make it clear that
725-580: A car named "Chambersburg", between Chambersburg and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . A couple of years later a second car, the "Carlisle", was introduced into service. In 1857, the Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts – one of the United States' first makers of railway passenger coach equipment – produced America's first specifically designed sleeping car. Canadian railways soon followed with their own sleeping cars: first
870-510: A chance for travel, and it was a well regarded job in the African-American community of the time. The Pullman attendants, regardless of their true name, were traditionally referred to as "George" by the travelers, the name of the company's founder, George Pullman . The Pullman company was the largest employer of African Americans in the United States. Railway porters fought for political recognition and were eventually unionized. Their union,
1015-443: A choice of single- or double-occupancy bedrooms. These services operate all week, except Saturdays and usually depart London from Euston and Paddington stations in the evening, arriving at their destinations at approximately 08:00. The Night Riviera service uses British Rail Mk3 sleeper coaches, whereas Caledonian Sleeper uses Mk5 coaches . In Canada, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Via Rail , using
1160-573: A consequence of the privatisation of British Rail , on 31 March 1997, the service was privatised as a part of the wider ScotRail franchise , initially being operated by National Express . Seated Mark 2 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,
1305-527: A contract with GB Railfreight who use Class 92s . However, due to mechanical problems, a Class 90 locomotive was used, initially hired from DB Cargo UK , but later changed to Freightliner . From 2015 until 2019, AC Locomotive Group heritage Class 86s and 87s were used to move empty carriages in London and Glasgow and occasionally operated the overnight passenger services. On the unelectrified routes in Scotland,
1450-671: A deal with the British transport conglomerate Stagecoach that saw the Mark 2 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
1595-512: A deluxe option with a private bathroom and shower. Night train numbers have been reduced significantly, as the quality of the rail infrastructure is declining and repairs are insufficient, which leads to longer ride times between cities. A journey from Gara de Nord station in Bucharest to Arad (599 km) usually lasts 11 hours 20 minutes when there are no delays. Most night trains in Romania cross
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#17328477645911740-598: A maximum speed of 80 mph (130 km/h), but are authorised to travel at 100 mph (160 km/h) where line speeds permit if the train has been delayed by more than 20 minutes. Trains use the West Coast Main Line between Scotland and London, using London Euston as their terminus. Sunday services are sometimes diverted via the East Coast Main Line when the West Coast route is closed for engineering work. In these cases, they still use London Euston except when
1885-415: A mixture of relatively new cars and refurbished mid-century ones; the latter cars include both private rooms and "open section" accommodations. In the United States, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Amtrak . Amtrak offers sleeping cars on most of its overnight trains, using modern cars of the private-room type exclusively. Today, Amtrak operates two main types of sleeping car:
2030-767: A modest degree of innovation in the bogie suspension systems and the passenger compartment design. Some other post-Soviet nations rely more heavily on the rolling stock fleet inherited from the Union, to a large extent based on vintage life-prolonged cars assembled in East Germany or Soviet Latvia back in the 1980s. Modern, air-conditioned sleeping cars and couchette cars are part of Croatian Railways rolling stock. Croatian sleeping coaches include single, double or 4-bed compartments with washbasin and many additional hygienic accessories. Passengers also have catering services at their disposal and are given complimentary breakfast, depending on
2175-448: 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
2320-564: A practice used in Italy and Austria, adopted by the CFR in the early 2010s, thus enabling it to increase the capacity on sleeping trains. The sleeping cars of the CFR in the 1990s consisted of Bautzen and Görlitz-made sleeping cars, standard in the Eastern Bloc. They were replaced by Grivița-made WLABmee 71-70 and Hansa-made WLABmee 71–31, bought second-hand from Deutsche Bahn. The most recent sleeping cars are
2465-634: A private shower cubicle. In addition, each Superliner sleeping car has two special lower-level accommodations, each taking up the full width of the car: the Accessible Bedroom, at the restroom/shower end of the car (below the Deluxe Bedrooms), is a fully wheelchair-accessible accommodation for two, with a roll-in cubicle for the toilet and shower; the Family Bedroom, at the Economy Bedroom end of
2610-410: A reappraisal of the plans, while the cost of the upgrade soared. Following fears that cost overruns on the project would push the final price tag to £13 billion, the plans were scaled down, bringing the cost down to between £8 billion and £10 billion, to be ready by 2008, with a maximum speed for tilting trains of a more modest 125 mph (201 km/h) – equalling the speeds available on
2755-508: A revenue earning trip on 24 February 1873 attached to a train at Glasgow for King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line . On 1 October 1873, the rival Caledonian Railway introduced a London and North Western Railway sleeping car on mail trains three days per week between Glasgow Buchanan Street and London Euston via the West Coast Main Line . The service ran from Glasgow on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and from London on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. An extra charge of ten shillings
2900-575: A service from Bristol Temple Meads 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 was planning to remove all seating accommodation on its remaining sleeper services from May 1992. However, it instead concluded
3045-462: A shower room at the end of the car. China Railway operates an extensive network of conventional sleeper trains throughout the country, covering all provincial capitals and many major cities. The Chinese "hard" sleeping car in use today is very basic, consisting of 6 fixed bunk beds per compartment, which can be converted into seats in peak season. The middle level bunk bed will be folded and top level bunk bed will still be sold as sleeper, while
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#17328477645913190-453: A single car to increase the number of sleepers over a conventional sleeping car of private rooms. A Roomette , in the historically correct sense of the word, is a private room for a single passenger, containing a single seat, a folding bed, a toilet ( not in a private cubicle of its own), and a washbasin. When a traditional Roomette is in night mode, the bed blocks access to the toilet. Like open sections, Roomettes are placed on both sides of
3335-601: A single route, but was built as a patchwork of local lines which were linked together, built by various companies, the largest of which amalgamated in 1846 to create the London and North Western Railway (LNWR), which then gradually absorbed most of the others; the exceptions were the Caledonian Railway in Scotland, and the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR) which both remained independent until 1923. The core route
3480-414: A small closet, and no in-room washbasin or toilet, on both sides of both the upper and lower levels of the car. Effectively, they are open sections with walls, a door, and a built-in access ladder for the upper berth (which doubles as a nightstand for the lower berth passenger). Superliner Deluxe Bedrooms are essentially the same as historic Compartments and Double Bedrooms, with the toilet cubicle doubling as
3625-459: A track realignment scheme to raise speeds on the WCML; a proposed project called InterCity 250 , which entailed realigning parts of the line in order to increase curve radii and smooth gradients in order to facilitate higher-speed running. The scheme, which would have seen the introduction of new rolling stock derived from that developed for the East Coast electrification, was scrapped in 1992. As part of
3770-512: A train factory in Minsk , or in Uzbekistan , which has established a 600 km Afrosiyob high-speed rail service between all of its major cities. In the larger Soviet Union successor states like Kazakhstan , Russia , and Ukraine , on the other hand, night trains are to this day a prime method of railway travel, as a shift towards faster daytime trains with seating rather than sleeping arrangements
3915-520: A useful alternative route to Manchester, however poor relations between the LNWR and the NSR meant that through trains did not run until 1867. The route to Scotland was marketed by the LNWR as 'The Premier Line'. Because the cross-border trains ran over the LNWR and Caledonian Railway, through trains consisted of jointly owned "West Coast Joint Stock" to simplify operations. The first direct London to Glasgow trains in
4060-641: A year during the end of World War II the United States government banned sleeping cars for runs of less than 450 miles (720 km) in order to make sleepers available for transporting troops returning to the US from Europe , many being deployed in the Pacific Theater . The development of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and the expansion of jet airline travel in the same decade negatively affected train travel. One unanticipated consequence of
4205-499: Is 399 miles (642 km) long, with principal InterCity stations at Watford Junction , Milton Keynes Central , Rugby , Stafford , Crewe , Warrington Bank Quay , Wigan North Western , Preston , Lancaster , Oxenholme Lake District , Penrith and Carlisle . The spine has bypasses serving the major towns and cities of Northampton , Coventry , Birmingham and Wolverhampton . Spurs serve Stoke-on-Trent , Macclesfield , Stockport , Manchester, Runcorn and Liverpool . There
4350-685: Is a low-cost night train between Madrid and Barcelona served by berth carriages, with compartments for up to 6 people. While most of Turkey's overnight trains operate within Anatolia , in Asia , TCDD Taşımacılık operates one train from Istanbul to Sofia and Bucharest . The train runs through Turkey as a single train and later splits in Bulgaria. Formerly, overnight trains departed Istanbul to several European destinations such as Thessaloniki , Belgrade , Budapest , Warsaw and Kyiv but were all discontinued in
4495-442: Is a short double track stretch through the 777-yard (710 m) Shugborough Tunnel. The line is then quadruple track most of the way to Acton Bridge railway station, except for a double track section between Winsford and Hartford. The line is double track from Acton Bridge railway station to Weaver Junction (where a double track spur to Liverpool branches off). The line is double track from Weaver Junction to Warrington Bank Quay, but
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4640-483: Is also a branch to Edinburgh , at Carstairs in Scotland which is not the most direct route between London and Edinburgh. It provides a direct connection between the WCML and the East Coast Main Line . Originally, the lines between Rugby , Birmingham and Stafford were part of the main spine, until the Trent Valley Line was built in 1847. This line formed a direct connection between Rugby and Stafford becoming
4785-521: Is also one of many train operators impacted by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes , which are the first national rail strikes in the UK for three decades. Its workers are amongst those are participating in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions. Caledonian Sleeper trains have been cancelled on the days of the strikes. In October 2022, the Scottish Government announced
4930-552: Is entirely electrified – this situation is, however, changing since the expansion of the Pendolino fleet; from 2013 onward Class 390 sets have been routinely deployed on Edinburgh/Glasgow–Birmingham services. By 2012, the WCML Pendolino fleet was strengthened by the addition of two coaches to 31 of the 52 existing sets, thus turning them into 11-car trains. Four brand new 11-car sets are also part of this order, one of which replaced
5075-706: Is hampered by insufficient investments in the railway infrastructure restricting the speed, lack of train sets, and most importantly, the distances involved. While certain numbers of high-speed trains have been acquired by the national railways of these countries (such as Talgo 250 in Kazakhstan, Siemens Sapsan in Russia, or Hyundai Rotem HRCS in Ukraine), all of them continue to operate a large number of sleeper trains both on domestic and international routes. The need to compete against aviation with its soaring passenger numbers forces
5220-539: Is one of the busiest mixed-traffic railway routes in Europe, carrying a mixture of intercity rail , regional rail , commuter rail and rail freight traffic. The core route of the WCML runs from London to Glasgow for 400 miles (644 km) and was opened from 1837 to 1881. With additional lines deviating to Northampton , Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Edinburgh, this totals a route mileage of 700 miles (1,127 km). The Glasgow–Edinburgh via Carstairs line connects
5365-529: Is the loss of through services between Liverpool and Scotland; however these were restored by TransPennine Express in 2019. British Rail introduced the Advanced Passenger Train APT project, which proved that London–Glasgow WCML journey times of less than 4 hours were achievable and paved the way for the later tilting Virgin Pendolino trains. In the late 1980s, British Rail put forward
5510-579: Is the principal rail freight corridor linking the European mainland (via the Channel Tunnel ) through London and South East England to the West Midlands, North West England and Scotland. The line has been declared a strategic European route and designated a priority Trans-European Networks (TENS) route. A number of railway writers refer to it as "The Premier line". The WCML was not originally conceived as
5655-855: The 20th Century Limited on the New York Central Railroad , the Broadway Limited on the Pennsylvania Railroad , the Panama Limited on the Illinois Central Railroad , and the Super Chief on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway . Pullman cars were normally a dark "Pullman green", although some were painted in the host railroad's colors. The cars carried individual names, but usually did not carry visible numbers. In
5800-458: The Chicago Defender , gained a national circulation in this way. Porters also used to re-sell phonograph records bought in the great metropolitan centres, greatly adding to the distribution of jazz and blues and the popularity of the artists. From the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries, the most common and more economical type of sleeping car accommodation on North American trains was
5945-631: The Simplon-Orient Express , Nord Express , Train Bleu , Golden Arrow , and the Transsiberien (on the Trans-Siberian railway ). Today it once again specializes in sleeping cars, along with onboard railroad catering. In modern Europe, a number of sleeping car services continue to operate, though they face strong competition from high-speed day trains and budget airlines, sometimes leading to
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6090-481: The Birmingham branch , and the routes to Manchester via Stoke-on-Trent was completed on 6 March 1967, allowing electric services to commence to those destinations. In March 1970 the government approved electrification of the northern half of the WCML, between Weaver Junction (where the branch to Liverpool diverges) and Glasgow, and this was completed on 6 May 1974. The announcement, after five years of uncertainty,
6235-462: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (established, 1925), became an important source of strength for the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement in the early 20th century, notably under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph . Because they moved about the country, Pullman porters also became an important means of communication for news and cultural information of all kinds. The African-American newspaper ,
6380-656: The Fort William 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 service
6525-519: The Grand Trunk in 1858, then the Great Western . The Great Western's sleeping cars were manufactured in-house, with the first three built in 1858, and the railway operating six by 1863. The man who ultimately made the sleeping car business profitable in the United States was George Pullman , who began by building a luxurious sleeping car (named Pioneer ) in 1865. The Pullman Company , founded as
6670-562: The London and Birmingham Railway was completed, connecting to the capital via Coventry , Rugby and the Watford Gap . The Grand Junction and London and Birmingham railways shared a Birmingham terminus at Curzon Street station , so that it was now possible to travel by train between London, Birmingham, Manchester and Liverpool. These lines, together with the Trent Valley Railway (between Rugby and Stafford, avoiding Birmingham) and
6815-564: The Manchester and Birmingham Railway (Crewe–Manchester), amalgamated operations in 1846 to form the London and North Western Railway (LNWR). Three other companies, the North Union Railway ( Parkside –Wigan–Preston), the Lancaster and Preston Junction Railway and the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway , completed a through route to Carlisle by the end of 1846, these were later absorbed by
6960-438: The Mark 2 and from 1974 the fully integral , air-conditioned Mark 3 design. These remained the mainstay of express services until the early 2000s. Line speeds were raised to a maximum 110 mph (180 km/h), and these trains, hauled by Class 86 and Class 87 electric locomotives, came to be seen as BR's flagship passenger service. Passenger traffic on the WCML doubled between 1962 and 1975. The modernisation also saw
7105-633: The Quintinshill rail disaster , occurred on the WCML during World War I , on 22 May 1915, between Glasgow Central and Carlisle, in which 227 were killed and 246 injured. The entire route came under the control of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) on 1 January 1923 when the railway companies were grouped , under the Railways Act 1921 . The LMS competed fiercely with the rival LNER 's East Coast Main Line for London to Scotland traffic (see Race to
7250-450: The death of Queen Elizabeth II , locomotive hauled services returned briefly to the WCML once more when incumbent operator Avanti West Coast employed a rake of Mark 3 coaches (hauled by a Class 90 locomotive) to provide additional services to Euston for those wishing to travel to London for the Queen's lying-in-state and subsequent funeral. The following table lists the rolling stock which forms
7395-555: The early railway era was for companies to promote individual lines between two destinations, rather than to plan grand networks of lines, as it was considered easier to obtain backing from investors. The first stretch of what is now the WCML was the Grand Junction Railway connecting the Liverpool and Manchester Railway to Birmingham , via Warrington , Crewe , Stafford and Wolverhampton , opening in 1837. The following year
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#17328477645917540-585: The privatisation of British Rail in the 1990s, the infrastructure was taken over in 1994 by the private company Railtrack , which later collapsed in 2002, and was replaced by the not-for-profit company Network Rail . WCML's InterCity services became part of the InterCity West Coast franchise , which was won by Virgin Trains who took over in 1997. In 2019, Avanti West Coast won the new West Coast Partnership franchise, taking over from Virgin Trains. By
7685-415: The "open section". Open-section accommodations consist of pairs of seats, one seat facing forward and the other backward, situated on either side of a center aisle. The seat pairs can be converted into the combination of an upper and a lower " berth ", each berth consisting of a bed screened from the aisle by a curtain. A famous example of open sections can be seen in the movie Some Like It Hot (1959). In
7830-520: The 1850s took 12.5 hours to complete the 400-mile (640 km) journey. The final sections of what is now the WCML were put in place over the following decades. A direct branch to Liverpool , bypassing the earlier Liverpool and Manchester line, was opened in 1869, from Weaver Junction north of Crewe to Ditton Junction via the Runcorn Railway Bridge over the River Mersey . At
7975-741: The 1920s, the Pullman Company went through a series of restructuring steps, which in the end resulted in a parent company, Pullman Incorporated, controlling the Pullman Company (which owned and operated sleeping cars) and the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company. Due to an antitrust verdict in 1947, a consortium of railroads bought the Pullman Company from Pullman Incorporated, and subsequently railroads owned and operated Pullman-made sleeping cars themselves. Pullman-Standard continued manufacturing sleeping cars and other passenger and freight railroad cars until 1980. For nearly
8120-445: The 1980s; an ill-fated high speed train which used tilting technology , which was required to allow faster speeds on the curving route, and the abortive InterCity 250 project in the early-1990s. Further modernisation of the route finally occurred during the 2000s in the period of privatisation , which saw speeds raised further to 125 mph (201 km/h) and the introduction of tilting Class 390 Pendolino trains. As much of
8265-571: The 1990s and 2000s. A privately operated overnight train, the Optima Express , runs between Edirne and Villach in Austria with an average trip time of 35 hours. In the United Kingdom, a network of trains with sleeping cars operates daily between London and Scotland ( Caledonian Sleeper ), and between London and the West Country as far as Cornwall ( Night Riviera ). These services offer
8410-526: The 2010-2017 timeframe. The Wigan North Western to Lostock Parkway branch is also in the process of being electrified. The majority of stock used on the West Coast Main Line is new-build, part of Virgin's initial franchise agreement having been a commitment to introduce a brand-new fleet of tilting Class 390 "Pendolino" trains for long-distance high-speed WCML services. The 53-strong Pendolino fleet, plus three tilting SuperVoyager diesel sets, were bought for use on these InterCity services. One Pendolino
8555-770: The British Rail-era carriages. These are hauled by a combination of Class 92 electric locomotives (on electrified sections only) and rebuilt Class 73/9s electro-diesel locomotives ; prior traction withdrawn in 2019 included Class 67 , Class 87 and Class 90 locomotives. Two services depart London Euston each night from Sunday to Friday and travel via the West Coast Main Line to Scotland. The earlier departure divides at Edinburgh into portions for Aberdeen , Fort William and Inverness . The later departure serves Edinburgh and Glasgow , splitting at Carstairs . Five London-bound portions depart from these destinations each night, combining into two trains at Edinburgh and Carstairs. Serco's contract concluded early in June 2023, and
8700-450: The Crewe–Manchester line via Wilmslow was completed in summer 2006. In September 2006, a new speed record was set on the WCML – a Pendolino train completed the 401-mile (645 km) Glasgow Central – London Euston run in a record 3 hours 55 minutes, beating the APT's record of 4 hours 15 minutes, although the APT still holds the overall record on the northbound run. The decade-long modernisation project
8845-488: The East Coast route, but some way short of the original target, and even further behind BR's original vision of 155 mph (250 km/h) speeds planned and achieved with the APT. The first phase of the upgrade, south of Manchester, opened on 27 September 2004 with journey times of 1 hour 21 minutes for London to Birmingham and 2 hours 6 minutes for London to Manchester. The final phase, introducing 125 mph (201 km/h) running along most of
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#17328477645918990-498: The LNWR. North of Carlisle, the Caledonian Railway remained independent, and opened its main line from Carlisle to Beattock on 10 September 1847, connecting to Edinburgh in February 1848, and to Glasgow in November 1849. Another important section, the North Staffordshire Railway (NSR), which opened its route in 1848 from Macclesfield (connecting with the LNWR from Manchester) to Stafford and Colwich Junction via Stoke-on-Trent , also remained independent. The NSR provided
9135-582: The Midlands and this area has been called the " Golden Triangle of Logistics ". Nearly all of the WCML is electrified with overhead line equipment at 25 kV AC . Several of the formerly unelectrified branches of the WCML in the North West have recently been electrified such as the Preston to Blackpool North Line on which electric service commenced in May 2018 along with the Preston – Manchester Piccadilly line which saw electric service commence in February 2019. Wigan to Liverpool via St Helens Shaw Street and St Helens Junction were also electrified in
9280-410: The North ). Attempts were made to minimise end-to-end journey times for a small number of powerful lightweight trains that could be marketed as glamorous premium crack expresses, especially between London and Glasgow, such as the 1937–39 Coronation Scot , hauled by streamlined Princess Coronation Class locomotives, which made the journey in 6 hours 30 minutes, making it competitive with
9425-414: The Prague - Košice line. Another of the more substantial examples of current European sleeping-car service is the Train Bleu , an all-sleeping-car train. It leaves Paris from the Gare d'Austerlitz station in mid-evening and arrives in Nice at about 8 in the morning, providing both first-class rooms and couchette accommodation. The train's principal popularity is with older travelers; it has not won
9570-410: The Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867, owned and operated most sleeping cars in the United States until the mid-20th century, attaching them to passenger trains run by the various railroads; there were also some sleeping cars that were operated by Pullman but owned by the railroad running a given train. During the peak years of American passenger railroading, several all-Pullman trains existed, including
9715-414: The ScotRail franchise, including the Caledonian Sleeper service, was transferred to FirstGroup . In spite of this transfer, both the rolling stock and locomotive contracts remained fundamentally unchanged, except for the carriages and three of EWS's Class 90 locomotives being repainted in FirstGroup's corporate blue, pink and white livery. During 2012, the Scottish Government announced that as part of
9860-408: The Spanish rail network operator Renfe . It was operated by Renfe and CP where it operated International Sud-Express and Lusitanea services between Spain and Portugal, and by its subsidiary Elipsos (a joint venture between Renfe and French SNCF with a 50% share each) when operating in France , Switzerland and Italy . Trenhotel services were discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic , this
10005-403: The UK, BR carried out an extensive programme of modernisation of it between the late 1950s and early 1970s, which included full overhead electrification of the route, and the introduction of modern intercity passenger services at speeds of up to 110 mph (177 km/h). Further abortive modernisation schemes were proposed, including the introduction of the Advanced Passenger Train (APT) in
10150-436: The WCML to Edinburgh. However, the main London–Edinburgh route is the East Coast Main Line . Several sections of the WCML form part of the suburban railway systems in London, Coventry , Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow, with many more smaller commuter stations, as well as providing links to more rural towns. It is one of the busiest freight routes in Europe, carrying 40% of all UK rail freight traffic. The line
10295-586: The WCML) were given 30 new "Desiro" Class 350s , originally ordered for services in the south-east. Following Govia 's successful bid for the West Midlands franchise in 2007, another 37 Class 350 units were ordered to replace its older fleet of Class 321s . The older BR-vintage locomotive-hauled passenger rolling stock still has a limited role on the WCML, with the overnight Caledonian Sleeper services between London Euston and Scotland using Mark 3 and Mark 2 coaches until their replacement with Mark 5 stock in October 2019. Virgin also retained and refurbished one of
10440-584: The WLABmee 70-91 made by Astra Arad, which is the same type used by Astra Rail (although the liveries differ), starting from 2014, 2 of the WLABmee 71-70 cars were refurbished, but no other examples have received the same treatment. Other examples that have been withdrawn since were second-hand examples of the TEN MU and T2S types. In Spain, Trenhotel was a long-distance, overnight train service which used Talgo tilting trains technology and sleeping cars developed by
10585-591: The a part of the spine. South of Rugby, there is a bypass loop that serves Northampton . There is a spur at Weaver Junction north of Crewe to Liverpool . Weaver Junction on this branch is the oldest flyover-type junction in Britain. A spur branches off from Crewe to serve Manchester . There is also a spur between Colwich Junction in the Trent Valley, south of Stafford to Stoke-on-Trent, with another spur north of Stafford, also to Stoke-on-Trent. The geography of
10730-428: The bi-level Superliner sleeping cars, built from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, and the single-level Viewliner sleeping cars, built in the mid-1990s. Superliners are used on most long-distance routes from Chicago westward, while Viewliners are used on most routes east of Chicago due to tunnel clearance issues in and around New York City and Baltimore . In the most common Superliner sleeping car configuration,
10875-442: 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. Sleeping car The first such cars saw sporadic use on American and English railways in the 1830s; they could be configured for coach seating during
11020-527: The cancellation or consolidation of services. In some cases, trains are split and recombined in the dead of night, making it possible to offer several connections with a relatively small number of trains. Generally, the trains consist of sleeping cars with private compartments, couchette cars, and sometimes cars with normal seating. In Eastern Europe, night trains are still widely used. In Western Europe, they have been in decline for decades. However, in December 2020
11165-793: The car, accommodates two adults and up to three small children, without private toilet or shower facilities. When the Viewliner sleeping cars were built, the accommodations were patterned after the Superliner accommodations, except that the Economy Bedrooms (or "Viewliner Roomettes") include Roomette-style washbasins and toilets, as well as windows for the upper berths. In Europe , the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (French for "International Sleeping Car Company") first focused on sleeping cars, but later operated whole trains, including
11310-632: The car, with a corridor down the center. Duplex Roomettes, a Pullman-produced precursor to the Slumbercoach, are staggered vertically, with every second accommodation raised a few feet above the car's floor level, in order to make slightly more efficient use of the space. Single-passenger Slumbercoach accommodations are a particularly spartan form of roomette; Slumbercoaches also included a few two-passenger units. Compartments and Double Bedrooms are private rooms for two passengers, with upper and lower berths, washbasins, and private toilets, placed on one side of
11455-443: The car, with the corridor running down the other side (thus allowing the accommodation to be slightly over two thirds the width of the car). Frequently, these accommodations have movable partitions allowing adjacent accommodations to be combined into a suite. The drawing room was a relatively rare and expensive option for travelers. It could comfortably accommodate three people, again with a washbasin and private toilet on one side of
11600-455: The car. Even rarer are larger rooms accommodating four or more. Generally the needs of large parties were better served with multiple rooms, with or without the ability to combine them into a suite. Amtrak's Superliner Economy Bedrooms (now called Superliner Roomettes, although they are structurally closer to open sections) accommodate two passengers in facing seats that fold out into a lower berth, with an upper berth that folds down from above,
11745-495: The co-owner of Le Monde newspaper. However, the project later collapsed due in part to a lack of funding. In 2021 Europe saw a increase in the provision of sleeper trains which is thought to be the result of increasing awareness of the environmental effects of long-distance travel. In 2022 the design and engineering faculties of three European universities – Aalto , KTH and TalTech – discussed plans to reshape sleeping cars for flow production. The ADLNE project aims to create
11890-503: The coaches used by British Rail; Mark 3 sleeping coaches and Mark 2 seated carriages, some of which were fitted out as lounge cars where refreshments could be obtained. During 2019, these were replaced by Mark 5 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
12035-547: The contract. Starting in January 2000, seated carriages were added to the sleeping cars; these were 11 former Virgin Trains Mark 2 carriages that had been refurbished at Wolverton Works , 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,
12180-588: The country, covering distances of 400 to 750 km, usually to end at certain international destinations or in large cities at opposite ends of the country. The overwhelming majority of night trains with sleeping coaches are owned and operated by CFR Călători (Romanian Railways). Recently, private operators such as Astra Rail Carpatica , the newly founded private operator of Astra Vagoane Arad , has started offering sleeping train services, using own-made sleeping cars and Servtrans locomotives. CFR today prefers operating more couchettes than sleeping cars in its trains,
12325-781: The dawn of the 1990s, it was clear that further modernisation was required. Initially this took the form of the InterCity 250 project. The modernisation plan unveiled by Virgin and the new infrastructure owner Railtrack involved the upgrade and renewal of the line to allow the use of tilting Pendolino trains with a maximum line speed of 140 mph (225 km/h), in place of the previous maximum of 110 mph (177 km/h). Railtrack estimated that this upgrade would cost £2 billion, be ready by 2005, and cut journey times to 1 hour for London to Birmingham and 1 hr 45 mins for London to Manchester. However, these plans proved too ambitious and were subsequently scaled back. The upgrade
12470-510: The day and "privacyless" double- or triple-level bunk beds at night. In 2021 the French start-up company, Midnight Trains , announced plans to set up a network of sleeper trains, centered in Paris . Planned destinations include Edinburgh , Copenhagen , Berlin , Venice , Rome , Barcelona , Madrid , and Porto , with some intermediate stops. The plans were backed by telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel ,
12615-530: The day. Possibly the earliest example of a sleeping car (or bed carriage , as it was then called) was on the London & Birmingham and Grand Junction Railways between London and Lancashire , England. The bed carriage was first made available to first-class passengers in 1838. In the spring of 1839, the Cumberland Valley Railroad pioneered sleeping car service in the United States with
12760-456: The demolition and redevelopment of several of the key stations on the line: BR was keen to symbolise the coming of the "electric age" by replacing the Victorian-era buildings with new structures built from glass and concrete. Notable examples were Birmingham New Street , Manchester Piccadilly , Stafford , Coventry and London Euston . To enable the latter, the famous Doric Arch portal into
12905-509: The destination. Some of the Nightjet train units have a maximum speed of 230 km/h. In the Soviet Union overnight train travel formed the most common and accessible mode of long-distance travel, distances between the capital of Moscow and many outlying cities being ideal for overnight trips that depart in late evening and arrive at their destinations in the morning. Sleeping cars with berths are
13050-548: The development of air travel, overnight bus services and high-speed rail . As of May 2016, sleeper car trains of regular service in Japan are as follows: 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 , Manchester , Liverpool and Edinburgh . It
13195-755: The diesel locomotives are detached from each portion and a Class 92 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;
13340-453: The economic climate of the time. The early history of the WCML is complex, as it was not originally conceived as a single trunk route, but was built as a patchwork of separate lines by different companies, mostly during the 1830s and 1840s, but some parts were opened as late as the 1880s. After the completion of the pioneering Liverpool and Manchester Railway in 1830, schemes were mooted to build more inter-city lines. The business practice of
13485-691: The fastest sleeper trains in the world. A new variant of CRH2E consists of double level bunk capsules in lieu of sleeping berths. These trains have been dubbed "moving hotels". A major portion of passenger cars in India are sleeper/couchette cars. With railways as one of the primary mode of passenger transport, sleeper cars vary from economical to First Class AC (air conditioned). Most Indian trains come in combinations of first class A/C and non-A/C private sleeper cars with doors, and A/C 3-tier or 2-tier couchette arrangements. Japan used to have many sleeper trains, but most of these routes have been removed because of
13630-443: The franchise run by Serco would be terminated. The service was taken over by Scottish Rail Holdings on 25 June 2023. Two trains are operated on six days each week (not Saturday night/Sunday morning). The Highland Sleeper has three portions that serve routes to Aberdeen , Inverness and Fort William . The Lowland Sleeper has two portions serving routes to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central . The trains normally operate at
13775-406: The journey is formed of 16 carriages and is hauled by an electric Class 92 locomotive. At Edinburgh Waverley, the train is divided into three portions; these continue north of Edinburgh to Fort William , Aberdeen and Inverness as separate services. The electric locomotive is uncoupled and replaced by a Class 73/9 diesel locomotive for each of the three northbound sets. The front portion of
13920-461: The line has a maximum speed of 125 mph (201 km/h), it meets the European Union 's definition of an upgraded high-speed line , although only Class 390 Pendolinos and Class 221 Super Voyagers with tilting mechanisms operated by Avanti West Coast travel at that speed. Non-tilting trains are limited to 110 mph (177 km/h). The spine between London Euston and Glasgow Central
14065-468: The line is quadruple track between Warrington Bank Quay to Wigan North Western. At Newton-le-Willows, the slow tracks join the Liverpool to Manchester line to pass through the centre of the town, while the fast tracks take the direct route via the Golborne cut-off. There are two more stretches of quadruple track, otherwise the line is double track to Scotland. The first is from Euxton Balshaw Lane to Preston, and
14210-487: The line, was announced as opening on 12 December 2005, bringing the fastest journey between London and Glasgow to 4 hours 25 mins (down from 5 hours 10 minutes). However, considerable work remained, such as the quadrupling of the track in the Trent Valley, upgrading the slow lines, the second phase of remodelling Nuneaton, and the remodelling of Stafford, Rugby, Milton Keynes and Coventry stations, and these were completed in late 2008. The upgrading of
14355-469: The lower bed will be occupied by three passengers. Chinese trains also offer "soft" or deluxe sleeping cars with four or two beds per room. China is the only country to operate high-speed sleeper trains. Sleeper services are operated using high-speed CRH1E , CRH2E and CRH5E trains outfitted with sleeping berths ( couchette ). Services run between Beijing - Shanghai and Beijing - Guangzhou at speeds of up to 250 km/h (160 mph), one of
14500-697: The main cities in Northern Italy and the South , including Sicily using train ferry. Sleeping trains in Poland are run by PKP Intercity . Sleeper cars are used on long-distance domestic trains such as the Przemyślanin as well as international trains. Polish night trains also contain standard first and second class seated cars as well as couchette cars . The sleeper cars offer various types of accommodations, including 4-bed, 3-bed, 2-bed and single accommodations, as well as
14645-495: The mid-to-late 20th century, an increasing variety of private rooms was offered. Most of these rooms provided significantly more space than open-section accommodations could offer. Open-sections were increasingly phased out in the 1950s, in favor of roomettes. Some of them, such as the rooms of the " Slumbercoach " cars manufactured by the Budd Company and first put into service in 1956, were triumphs of miniaturization. These allowed
14790-612: The northern end, the Caledonian replaced its original Southside terminus in Glasgow, with the much larger and better located Glasgow Central in 1879. To expand capacity, the line between London and Rugby was widened to four tracks in the 1870s. As part of this work, a new line, the Northampton Loop , was built, opening in 1881, connecting Northampton before rejoining the main line at Rugby. The worst-ever rail accident in UK history,
14935-671: The only reasonable solution for railway trips lasting several days (e.g., trains running along the Trans-Siberian Railway , or direct trains from Moscow or Saint Petersburg to the capitals of the Central Asian Soviet Republics). Since then, the railroads in the smaller ex-Soviet nations have largely transitioned to daytime intercity trains, such as in Belarus , where the process is based on government-funded purchases of rolling stock supplied by Stadler , which operates
15080-848: The original Philip Hardwick -designed terminus was demolished in 1962 amid much public outcry. Electrification of the Edinburgh branch was carried out in the late 1980s as part of the East Coast Main Line electrification project in order to allow InterCity 225 sets to access Glasgow via Carstairs Junction. Modernisation brought great improvements in speed and frequency. However some locations and lines were no longer served by through trains or through coaches from London, such as: Windermere ; Barrow-in-Furness , Whitehaven and Workington ; Huddersfield , Bradford Interchange , Leeds and Halifax (via Stockport); Blackpool South ; Colne (via Stockport); Morecambe and Heysham ; Southport (via Edge Hill ); Blackburn and Stranraer Harbour. Notable also
15225-444: The original Mark 3 rakes with a Driving Van Trailer and a Class 90 locomotive as a standby set to cover for Pendolino breakdowns. This set was retired from service on 25 October with a rail tour the following day. In November 2014, the "Pretendolino" was transferred to Norwich Crown Point depot to enter service with Abellio Greater Anglia having come to the end of its agreed lease to Virgin Trains. In September 2022, following
15370-594: The other main line between London and Scotland. The principal solution has been the adoption of tilting trains , initially with British Rail 's APT and latterly the Class 390 Pendolino trains constructed by Alstom and introduced by Virgin Trains in 2003. A 'conventional' attempt to raise line speeds as part of the InterCity 250 upgrade in the 1990s would have relaxed maximum cant levels on curves and seen some track realignments; this scheme faltered for lack of funding in
15515-605: The railcar from modules that are themselves composed of interchangeable segments, compartments and fittings, allowing bespoke designs at low cost. ÖBB 's modern Nightjet services operate in Germany , Austria , Italy , Switzerland , France , Netherlands and Belgium , and Nightjet's partners will also take passengers to Slovakia , Croatia , Slovenia , Poland , Hungary and the Czech Republic . The services usually leave at around 20:00 hours and arrive at around 09:00 hours at
15660-615: The railroads to maintain modest ticket prices, starting at below 10 Euros for third-class tickets in Ukraine, if higher in the richer ex-Soviet nations. Rolling stock age and quality also varies by country. In countries like Kazakhstan and Russia, locally-produced cars are purchased regularly to update the fleet, with newly introduced comforts such as showers, dry toilets, or conditioning units in passenger compartments becoming an increasingly common sight; Russian Railroads have also introduced double-deck sleeper cars; yet comfort levels still suffer from
15805-487: The reletting of the ScotRail franchise from April 2015, the Caledonian Sleeper would be operated by a separate franchise. In June 2013, Transport Scotland announced Arriva , FirstGroup and 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 £100 million in new trains that would include 'en suite' rooms and
15950-794: The replacement of a weak bridge in Watford allowed line-speeds to be increased from 90 mph (145 km/h) to 125 mph (201 km/h), decreasing journey times. The main spine of the WCML is quadruple track almost all of the route from London to south of Winsford . At Hanslope Junction (near Milton Keynes ), the line divides with one pair going direct to Rugby and the other pair diverting via Northampton to rejoin at Rugby. The spine continues north in quadruple track until Brinklow, where it reduces to triple track. The line between Brinklow and Nuneaton has three tracks, with one northbound track and fast and slow southbound tracks. The line then reverts to quadruple track at Nuneaton. North of Rugeley, there
16095-402: The rise of Pullman cars in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries was their effect on civil rights and African-American culture. Each Pullman car was staffed by a uniformed porter . The majority of Pullman porters were African Americans. While still a menial job in many respects, Pullman offered better pay and security than most jobs open to African Americans at the time, in addition to
16240-431: The rival East Coast Main Line as well; however, all remaining sleeper services that ran on the east coast routes were withdrawn in May 1988. While InterCity 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
16385-433: The rival East Coast Flying Scotsman (British Railways in the 1950s could not match this, but did achieve a London-Glasgow timing of 7 hours 15 minutes in the 1959–60 timetable by strictly limiting the number of coaches to eight and not stopping between London and Carlisle. ) In 1948, following nationalisation , the line came under the control of British Railways ' London Midland and Scottish Regions , when
16530-537: The route was determined by avoiding large estates and hilly areas, such as the Chilterns ( Tring Cutting ); the Watford Gap and Northampton uplands, followed by the Trent Valley; the mountains of Cumbria , with a summit at Shap ; and Beattock Summit in South Lanarkshire . This legacy means the WCML has limitations as a long-distance main line, with lower maximum speeds than the East Coast Main Line (ECML) route,
16675-435: The route with overhead line equipment. The first stretch to be upgraded and electrified was Crewe to Manchester, completed on 12 September 1960. This was followed by Crewe to Liverpool, completed on 1 January 1962. Electrification was then extended south to London. The first electric trains from London ran on 12 November 1965, with a full public service to Manchester and Liverpool launched on 18 April 1966. Electrification of both
16820-429: The same degree of popularity with younger travelers. Recently, the upper-class coaches (wagons lits) have been sold to foreign railroad companies, so that only couchette cars (1st and 2nd class) and seating coaches remain. The Train Bleu is part of the French night service network called Intercités de Nuit . In Italy, Ferrovie dello Stato operates an extensive network of trains with sleeping cars, especially between
16965-722: The seated and lounge carriages are attached/detached at Edinburgh Waverley for the Edinburgh–Fort 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. Going northbound, the Lowland Sleeper departs London Euston at 23:50 (23:30 on Sundays), calling at Watford Junction to pick up passengers. The train then continues with no intermediate calls until Carlisle before reaching Carstairs . Here
17110-522: The second is a busy section around Glasgow. The WCML is noted for the diversity of branches served from the spine, notably those to/from the West Midlands and North Wales , Greater Manchester , and Liverpool. These are detailed in the route diagram . The complete route has been cleared for W10 loading gauge freight traffic, allowing use of higher 9 ft 6 in (2,896 mm) hi-cube shipping containers . The route passes through Nuneaton and
17255-543: The service was taken into public ownership by Transport Scotland . It is operated on its behalf by Scottish Rail Holdings . 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 London King's Cross . It became the first sleeping carriage used on British railways when it made
17400-663: The set lost in the Grayrigg derailment. Although the new stock was supplied in Virgin livery, it was not expected to enter traffic before 31 March 2012, when the InterCity West Coast franchise was due to be re-let, though the date for the new franchise was later put back to December 2012, and any effect of this on the timetable for introducing the new coaches remains unclear. Previous franchisees Central Trains and Silverlink (operating local and regional services partly over sections of
17545-447: 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. The ScotRail franchise inherited
17690-439: The state railways of Germany , Austria , France and Switzerland announced a 500 million euro investment in a network of cross-border night trains linking 13 major European cities, in the largest extension of Europe's night network in many years. An example of a more basic type of sleeping car is the European couchette car , which is divided into compartments for four or six people, with bench-configuration seating during
17835-720: The station itself is closed, or there is no possible routing into the station during engineering works, in which case they use nearby London King's Cross instead. Lounges for Caledonian Sleeper customers are available at Dundee , Fort William , Inverness , Leuchars , Perth and Stirling stations, and passengers may also use lounges shared with other operators at Aberdeen , Edinburgh Waverley , Glasgow Central and London Euston . The northbound Highland Sleeper leaves London Euston at 21:15 (20:59 on Sundays), calling at Watford Junction , Crewe and Preston to pick up passengers, and arrives at Edinburgh Waverley approximately six-and-a-half hours after leaving London. This leg of
17980-455: The technical viability and cost of implementing moving block prior to promising the speed increase to Virgin and the government. By 1999, with little headway on the modernisation project made, it became apparent to engineers that the technology was not mature enough to be used on the line. The bankruptcy of Railtrack in 2001 and its replacement by Network Rail following the Hatfield crash brought
18125-409: The term "West Coast Main Line" came into use officially, although it had been used informally since at least 1912. As part of the 1955 modernisation plan , British Rail carried out a large programme of modernisation of the WCML in stages between 1959 and 1974; the modernisation involved upgrading the track and signaling to allow higher speeds, rebuilding a number of stations, and electrification of
18270-413: The train divides into two portions: the front eight carriages continue to Glasgow Central with one intermediate stop at Motherwell , while the rear eight carriages reverse at Carstairs and continue non-stop to Edinburgh Waverley , both portions arriving at their respective destinations the following morning. Carlisle, Carstairs and Motherwell are all served for alighting passengers only. Similarly, in
18415-449: 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 Class 73/9 locomotive up to Edinburgh. These services are then combined to form one train at Edinburgh Waverley;
18560-743: The trains and crews for the Serco franchise in 2015, it was planned to use rebuilt Class 73/9s . The first of these came into service in February 2016. Former train types operated by Caledonian Sleeper include: During April 2019, new Mark 5 carriages were introduced to service, however, the inaugural journey was more than three hours late arriving at London Euston . 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 Carstairs on 1 August 2019,
18705-447: The trains were hauled by EWS Class 37s to Fort William and 47s to Aberdeen and Inverness until June 2001 when Class 67s 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 80 mph (130 km/h) for this additional service. When GB Railfreight started to provide
18850-708: The type of ticket bought. A night train with sleeping carriages included operates on the route between the two largest Croatian towns, Zagreb and Split , and Croatian sleeping coaches are included on the Zagreb- Stuttgart -Zagreb and Zagreb- Zürich -Zagreb EuroNight lines. Sleeping car services in the Czech Republic are operated by České dráhy and RegioJet . ČD operates them on the Prague - Leipzig - Zürich line, Prague - Linz - Zürich line, Prague - Humenné line and others. RegioJet provides them on various trains on
18995-400: The upper level is divided into two halves, one half containing "Bedrooms" (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; and the other half containing " Roomettes " (formerly "Economy Bedrooms" or "Standard Bedrooms") for one or two travelers; plus a beverage area and a toilet. The lower level contains more Roomettes;
19140-419: Was described as "a classic example of disastrous project management". Central to the implementation of the plan was the adoption of moving block signalling , which had never been proven on anything more than simple metro lines and light rail systems – not on a complex high-speed heavy-rail network such as the WCML. Despite this, Railtrack made what would prove to be the fatal mistake of not properly assessing
19285-517: Was due to some routes being covered by daytime high-speed trains, the age of rolling stock and the diminishing popularity of some of the services. Renfe announced that trains to and from the Spanish region of Galicia would eventually be reintroduced. This marked the end of sleeper trains in Portugal and it left Celta as the last international train service between Portugal and Spain. The Estrella (Star)
19430-426: Was finally completed in December 2008. This allowed Virgin's VHF (very high frequency) timetable to be progressively introduced through early 2009, the highlights of which are a three-trains-per-hour service to both Birmingham and Manchester during off-peak periods, and nearly all London-Scottish timings brought under the 4 hours 30 minutes barrier – with one service (calling only at Preston) achieving
19575-518: 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 COVID-19 pandemic . In late 2021, the Caledonian Sleeper was subject to further strikes over allegations of bullying and harassment of staff. It
19720-520: Was initially operated by National Express . 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 operator Virgin Trains was implemented. The arrangement continued until March 1998, at which point the freight operator English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) took on
19865-399: Was later dropped) and offering journey times as London to Birmingham in 1 hour 35 minutes, and London to Manchester or Liverpool in 2 hours 40 minutes (and even 2 hours 30 minutes for the twice-daily Manchester Pullman ). This represented a big improvement on the 3 hours 30 minutes to Manchester and Liverpool of the fastest steam service. A new feature
20010-472: Was made 48 hours before the writ was issued for a by-election in South Ayrshire . The Observer commented that, if the £25 million decision was politically rather than financially motivated, it would have the makings of a major political scandal. A new set of high-speed long-distance services was introduced in 1966, launching British Rail's highly successful " Inter-City " brand (the hyphen
20155-404: 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 Aberdeen , and from Euston to Glasgow Central , Perth , Inverness , Stranraer Harbour , and Fort William . There was also
20300-445: Was mostly built between the 1830s and 1850s, but several cut-off routes and branches were built in later decades. In 1923, the entire route came under the ownership of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) when the railway companies were grouped under the Railways Act 1921 . The LMS itself was nationalised in 1947 to form part of British Railways (BR). As the WCML is the most important long-distance railway trunk route in
20445-586: Was performed at Inverness TMD until April 2015, when the work was contracted out to Alstom and transferred to Polmadie Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot . 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 to provide Class 87s . In March 1998, these were replaced by English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) Class 90s . As of 2015, Serco has
20590-479: Was that these fast trains were offered on a regular-interval service throughout the day: initially hourly to Birmingham, two-hourly to Manchester, and so on. The service proved to be so popular that in 1972 these InterCity service frequencies were doubled to deal with increased demand. With the completion of the northern electrification in 1974, London to Glasgow journey times were reduced from 6 hours to 5. Along with electrification came modern coaches such as
20735-510: Was transferred to FirstGroup . Since April 2015, the Caledonian Sleeper has been structured as a standalone franchise. It was operated by Serco 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 carriages were introduced, replacing
20880-532: Was withdrawn without reprieve. 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
21025-671: Was written off in 2007 following the Grayrigg derailment . After the 2007 franchise "shake-up" in the Midlands, more SuperVoyagers were transferred to Virgin West Coast, instead of going to the new CrossCountry franchise. The SuperVoyagers are used on London–Chester and Holyhead services because the Chester/North Wales line is not electrified, so they run "under the wires" between London and Crewe. SuperVoyagers were also used on Virgin's London-Scotland via Birmingham services, even though this route
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