andset1191
Jun 8, 12, 8:12 am
Note - I planned on making this a video report. Before I posted it, my iPhone broke and I lost my video. So I only have a few poor quality iPhone pics.
Usually, when I take a trip to London involves one of these.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7156618497_a3d5d5a905.jpg
But this is Scotrail’s Caledonian Sleeper, which six nights a week crawls across the country from Scotland to London.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7156606989_b3eef04243.jpg
And thanks to Scotrail’s Globetrotter App, to which I’ve methodically been recording my journeys for the past few weeks, I received free tickets for first class for me and a friend.
Could Scotrail prove that London truly is only a sleep away? Or would I lie awake all night dreaming of British Airways Airbuses.
Conceptually, the idea of falling asleep in Glasgow Central station and awaking the next morning in Euston is undoubtedly appealing. But there is an old saying about the sleeper “the only way to get a good nights sleep on a sleeper is to have travelled on the sleeper the previous night”.
With that in mind, I booked back to back overnight returns.
The sleeper travels down the west coast mainline, a line which Virgin’s pendolinos sprint up in 4.5 hours. Comparatively, the sleeper crawls along, departing Glasgow at 20 to midnight, and not arriving into Euston for over 7 hours.
Outbound Journey:
To compensate for the lack of first class lounge at Glasgow Central, boarding starts at 10pm, and the lounge car is open.
At least that’s according to Scotrail’s website. Ahead of my departure, boarding didn’t start until 20 past 10. And when I say boarding started at 20 past 10, it didn’t - despite the platform appearing on the boards, we managed to surprise the staff on board by getting on too soon.
The staff were very pleasant about the mix up, and swiftly welcomed us aboard, offering a tray of continental breakfast in the morning with our choices of tea, coffee and orange juice. We were not offered anything hot for breakfast, nor did we ask if it was available.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7103/7156636293_2963eb4d53.jpg
We went to sit in the lounge car, which is somewhere for the enthusiasts where the seats aren’t attached to the floor. Prices were reasonable, but at that time of night we didn’t really fancy any food or drinks. So we retreated to our cabins.
In first class you get a cabin to yourself and the upper bunk is folded away. Each cabin is fitted with a plethora of lighting options, a window blind and a sink. Each passenger is provided a duvet, blanket and a couple of pillows.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7156634539_aa039be7b0.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7076/7341811818_743baec7bf.jpg
In first class, you are also provided with a washbag, which was surprisingly impressive.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7341804910_e35e1d437b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8163/7156626679_a6da4de0b7.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7156630331_46fa9de362.jpg
But the biggest issue surrounding the sleeper train is one of whether you are able to sleep.
We left Glasgow at exactly 23.40. I decided not to try to sleep until after Carstairs, where the Edinburgh and Glasgow carriages merge. This merge is rather frustrating as the train fairly wobbles from side to side as the cabins are pushed about. It lasts all of about 10 minutes. Thereafter, we were back to the rather smooth ride that was the sleeper train. Impressively, I fell asleep and next thing I knew it was 4.30am. My cabin was freezing. Fortunately, you can turn up the heating in the cabin by means of a dial, and I dropped fast asleep. Next thing I knew it was 20 past 6, and I realised I didn’t know where I was. I opened the window blind, and it looked a bit like London.
At this point, I was sorely missing the moving map like you get on British Airways. Then I realised I’d brought my own.
My iPhone informed me that I was just passing Chalk Farm tube station which it quickly dawned on me was about a mile from Euston. At that moment, there was a knock on the door delivering the continental breakfast.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7341837406_792c307785.jpg
On arrival in Euston, we went to see if we could use the First Class Lounge at get showers. We were warmly welcomed as arriving customers off the sleeper. Breakfast options are limited to a solitary tray of pastries, tea, coffee and orange juice. Some nifty bits of the lounge include a Nintendo 3DS, an iPad 3 connected to the internet and mobile phone charging stations.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7156621909_f969a9c514.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7227/7156619193_ddff241075_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8144/7341823188_276c93f8d4_n.jpg
Showers are available - you get a towel from the desk (and have to sign for it). There are 4 male and female showers, located in the toilets.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7156605253_241a9101b9.jpg
The Virgin first class lounge staff were completely charming and extremely welcome to Scotrail’s sleeper customers.
The lounge is certainly more pleasant than the rest of the station, although alcohol is chargeable is both a good refresher in the mornings and timefiller in the evenings.
That said, is the sleeper better than flying? Well it’s certainly more bearable than a red-eye at 06.45 to Heathrow and arrives into London earlier. But sadly, it still isn’t a full nights sleep to the same quality of even half a night at home. More annoying still is the lack of power in the cabins to keep your laptop full of juice, and the lack of wireless internet on board.
Usually, when I take a trip to London involves one of these.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7156618497_a3d5d5a905.jpg
But this is Scotrail’s Caledonian Sleeper, which six nights a week crawls across the country from Scotland to London.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8164/7156606989_b3eef04243.jpg
And thanks to Scotrail’s Globetrotter App, to which I’ve methodically been recording my journeys for the past few weeks, I received free tickets for first class for me and a friend.
Could Scotrail prove that London truly is only a sleep away? Or would I lie awake all night dreaming of British Airways Airbuses.
Conceptually, the idea of falling asleep in Glasgow Central station and awaking the next morning in Euston is undoubtedly appealing. But there is an old saying about the sleeper “the only way to get a good nights sleep on a sleeper is to have travelled on the sleeper the previous night”.
With that in mind, I booked back to back overnight returns.
The sleeper travels down the west coast mainline, a line which Virgin’s pendolinos sprint up in 4.5 hours. Comparatively, the sleeper crawls along, departing Glasgow at 20 to midnight, and not arriving into Euston for over 7 hours.
Outbound Journey:
To compensate for the lack of first class lounge at Glasgow Central, boarding starts at 10pm, and the lounge car is open.
At least that’s according to Scotrail’s website. Ahead of my departure, boarding didn’t start until 20 past 10. And when I say boarding started at 20 past 10, it didn’t - despite the platform appearing on the boards, we managed to surprise the staff on board by getting on too soon.
The staff were very pleasant about the mix up, and swiftly welcomed us aboard, offering a tray of continental breakfast in the morning with our choices of tea, coffee and orange juice. We were not offered anything hot for breakfast, nor did we ask if it was available.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7103/7156636293_2963eb4d53.jpg
We went to sit in the lounge car, which is somewhere for the enthusiasts where the seats aren’t attached to the floor. Prices were reasonable, but at that time of night we didn’t really fancy any food or drinks. So we retreated to our cabins.
In first class you get a cabin to yourself and the upper bunk is folded away. Each cabin is fitted with a plethora of lighting options, a window blind and a sink. Each passenger is provided a duvet, blanket and a couple of pillows.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8006/7156634539_aa039be7b0.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7076/7341811818_743baec7bf.jpg
In first class, you are also provided with a washbag, which was surprisingly impressive.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7072/7341804910_e35e1d437b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8163/7156626679_a6da4de0b7.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7089/7156630331_46fa9de362.jpg
But the biggest issue surrounding the sleeper train is one of whether you are able to sleep.
We left Glasgow at exactly 23.40. I decided not to try to sleep until after Carstairs, where the Edinburgh and Glasgow carriages merge. This merge is rather frustrating as the train fairly wobbles from side to side as the cabins are pushed about. It lasts all of about 10 minutes. Thereafter, we were back to the rather smooth ride that was the sleeper train. Impressively, I fell asleep and next thing I knew it was 4.30am. My cabin was freezing. Fortunately, you can turn up the heating in the cabin by means of a dial, and I dropped fast asleep. Next thing I knew it was 20 past 6, and I realised I didn’t know where I was. I opened the window blind, and it looked a bit like London.
At this point, I was sorely missing the moving map like you get on British Airways. Then I realised I’d brought my own.
My iPhone informed me that I was just passing Chalk Farm tube station which it quickly dawned on me was about a mile from Euston. At that moment, there was a knock on the door delivering the continental breakfast.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7226/7341837406_792c307785.jpg
On arrival in Euston, we went to see if we could use the First Class Lounge at get showers. We were warmly welcomed as arriving customers off the sleeper. Breakfast options are limited to a solitary tray of pastries, tea, coffee and orange juice. Some nifty bits of the lounge include a Nintendo 3DS, an iPad 3 connected to the internet and mobile phone charging stations.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7100/7156621909_f969a9c514.jpg
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7227/7156619193_ddff241075_m.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8144/7341823188_276c93f8d4_n.jpg
Showers are available - you get a towel from the desk (and have to sign for it). There are 4 male and female showers, located in the toilets.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7242/7156605253_241a9101b9.jpg
The Virgin first class lounge staff were completely charming and extremely welcome to Scotrail’s sleeper customers.
The lounge is certainly more pleasant than the rest of the station, although alcohol is chargeable is both a good refresher in the mornings and timefiller in the evenings.
That said, is the sleeper better than flying? Well it’s certainly more bearable than a red-eye at 06.45 to Heathrow and arrives into London earlier. But sadly, it still isn’t a full nights sleep to the same quality of even half a night at home. More annoying still is the lack of power in the cabins to keep your laptop full of juice, and the lack of wireless internet on board.