Caledonian Sleeper

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 sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom (the other being the Night Riviera between London and Penzance). Two services depart London 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.

Since April 2015, the Caledonian Sleeper has been a standalone franchise operated by Serco. Prior to this it was part of the ScotRail franchise.

Background
Sleeper trains had operated between London and Scotland since the completion of the line in the 1850s. Services operated from both London Euston via the West Coast Main Line including the Royal Highlander and London King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line until the latter were withdrawn in May 1988. InterCity planned to remove all seating accommodation on the remaining services from May 1992, however it instead concluded a deal with Stagecoach to retain the Mark 2 sitting carriages. After 12 months the Stagecoach carriages were withdrawn.

On 5 March 1995, responsibility for operation of the Anglo-Scottish services passed within British Rail from InterCity West Coast to ScotRail. British Rail had proposed to cease operating the Fort William portion, 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, but it was reduced from four sleeping carriages to one. The motorail service was withdrawn in 1995.

Caledonian Sleeper
On 4 June 1996, the service was relaunched as the Caledonian Sleeper with the Night Caledonian (to Glasgow), Night Scotsman (to Edinburgh), Night Aberdonian (to Aberdeen), Royal Highlander (to Inverness) and West Highlander (to Fort William) sub-brands. On 31 March 1997, as part of the ScotRail franchise it was taken over by National Express. In March 1998, the West Coast Main Line portions which had been hauled by Virgin Trains Class 87s, were taken over by English Welsh & Scottish Class 90s.

In January 2000, sitting carriages were introduced with 11 ex Virgin Trains Mark 2 carriages refurbished at Wolverton railway works with first class recliners. At the same time the Mark 3 sleeping carriages were refurbished with a purple and blue livery applied.

From June 2001, Class 67s began to replace Class 47s on the Aberdeen and Inverness portions. In June 2006, they replaced Class 37s on the Fort William portion.

On 17 October 2004, the Caledonian Sleeper along with the rest of the ScotRail franchise was taken over by First ScotRail. The rolling stock remained unchanged. The carriages were painted in FirstGroup's corporate blue, pink and white livery as were three Class 90s.

Serco
In 2012 the Scottish Government announced that as part of the reletting of the ScotRail franchise from April 2015, the Caledonian Sleeper would be operated by a separate franchise. It was stated that a total of £100 million would be invested in new and additional rolling stock. In June 2013, Transport Scotland announced Arriva, FirstGroup and Serco had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. In May 2014, the franchise was awarded to Serco with a commitment to replace the Mark 2 and Mark 3 coaching stock by 2018. On 31 March 2015, Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited, took over the operation of the Caledonian Sleeper

The Caledonian Sleepers headquarters and customer call centre are located within Inverness station. Some terminus station has lounges and ticketing/customer service desks.

Route
Two trains depart London Euston on six nights per week, Sunday to Friday, heading north on the West Coast Main Line. The trains normally operate at a maximum speed of 80 mph, but are authorised to travel at 100 mph where line speeds permit if the train has been delayed by more than 20 minutes.

Highland Sleeper
Departs London Euston at 21:15 (20:57 Sunday), calling at Watford Junction, Crewe and Preston to pick up passengers only, and arrives at Edinburgh Waverley approximately six-and-a-half hours after leaving London. The electric Class 92 (sometimes Class 90) locomotive is uncoupled and replaced by a Class 73/9 (formerly a Class 67) diesel locomotive for each of the three portions, to Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William.

The front two sleeping carriages are for Fort William, being combined at Edinburgh with a further two sitting carriages to make a four-vehicle formation. The middle portion of either six carriages is for Aberdeen, and the rear portion of eight carriages is for Inverness. Both the Aberdeen and Inverness portions usually convey one sitting and one lounge carriage each, with the rest being sleeping cars, all working through to/from London.

Heading south, the Aberdeen, Fort William and Inverness portions join at Edinburgh to form one train calling at Preston, Crewe and London Euston (alighting only).

As of September 2014, the Fort William Sleeper no longer serves Westerton, instead serving Low Level, alighting only southbound/boarding only northbound.

Lowland Sleeper
Departs London Euston at 23:50 (23:27 Sunday), calling at Watford Junction to pick up only. Passengers can alight at Carlisle and at Carstairs (on the Glasgow section only), where the train divides, the rear portion continuing to Edinburgh, the front portion to Glasgow Central additionally calling at Motherwell.

Southbound the portions from Glasgow (calling at Motherwell) and Edinburgh join at Carstairs (where passengers can board the Glasgow section), then call at Carlisle to pick up only, setting down at Watford Junction and London Euston the following morning.

Sunday services are sometimes diverted via the East Coast Main Line when the West Coast Main Line is closed for engineering work. Services diverted via the East Coast Main Line still depart from London Euston.

Rolling Stock
Since its 1996 inception, the service has been operated by Mark 2 and Mark 3 carriages. These are scheduled to be replaced by Mark 5 carriages in 2018.

Motive power was initially provided by InterCity West Coast Class 87s on the electrified West Coast Main Line and Class 37s and Class 47s north of Edinburgh. In March 1998, the Class 87s were replaced by English Welsh & Scottish Class 90s.

From June 2001, Class 67s began to replace Class 47s on the Aberdeen and Inverness portions. In June 2006, they replaced Class 37s on the Fort William portion. To operate the latter, the 67s were fitted with cast iron brakes and restricted to 80 mph.

When Serco were awarded the franchise, it contracted GB Railfreight to provide drivers and traction for the services. It was planned that the electric services be operated by Class 92s and the diesel services by rebuilt Class 73/9s. However mechanical problems with the former and the first of the latter not debuting until February 2016, have seen locomotives hired in from a number of sources including AC Locomotive Group, DB Cargo UK, Freightliner and Harry Needle Railroad Company. DB Cargo UK Class 67s ceased being used in June 2016.

AC Locomotive Group heritage Class 86 and Class 87s haul the empty carriage movements between Euston and Wembley depot and have on occasions operated services to Scotland. A midnight teal livery was adopted.

Heavy maintenance on the carriage stock was performed at Inverness until April 2015, when the work was contracted out to Alstom and transferred to Polmadie.