11 hours on Scotland's famous Caledonian Sleeper!
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- Time for a look at Scotland's luxury overnight train, in a Club en-suite room.
I'll be riding from London in England, to the Highland capital city of Inverness, and experiencing the amazing Caledonian Sleeper's comfort and on-board service!
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Journey Details:
Origin: London Euston
Destination: Inverness
Company: Caledonian Sleeper (CS)
Train: UK Class 92/UK Class 66 + Mk5 Sleeper
Accommodation: Club Suite Sleeper (L2)
Distance: 591 miles / 951 kilometres
Price: £99.00 (€116.30 / $131.20)
Time: 11 hours 51 minutes, arrived 13 minutes early
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I love how the colourful lights on the front of Euston station make it look a bit less grim than it is in daylight. 🤣😂
“The touch of style you never knew you needed in your life” thanks for this impecable line
Great video - I do like the sleeper! I'm not sure how long ago this was filmed, but the only thing I'll mention is that the individual Arran amenities are now replaced (minus pillow spray) by fixed larger bottles in each shower.
The best journey on this train is Euston to Fort William. Waking up as you pass Loch Lomond and having breakfast in the restaurant whilst Rannoch Moor passes by is a fantastic experience. Unfortunately when I did it I found sleeping on the train difficult even though I had been upgraded to the Caledonian Double. The carriage was just too noisy with all the rattles caused by the overly bouncy motion of the train. Also, the shower only dispensed cool water which was a bit of a shock to the system. Whilst I loved the journey and appreciated the upgrade I was a bit disappointed with the train. That was three years ago just before the pandemic, hopefully they've fixed a few of the shortcomings by now.
The railway over Rannoch Moor is spectacular.
Rannoch Moor is probably the best railway journey in the UK - just - and it lets you do the Trainspotting thingy at Carrour
I can't agree more! It is helpful for tourists ~ By the way, I found that I can get a discount on tickets with code on trainpal ~❤
I DID THAT SLEEPER TRAIN , BACK IN 89!!!!!! HAD THE BEST SLEEP EVER!!!!!!
Very enthusiastic, aren’t you?
Your videos are excellent and it’s great pleasure to us you are taking us virtual travel. No boring as well.
Thanks, glad you enjoy the experience!
I can't agree more! It is helpful for tourists ~ By the way, I found that I can get a discount on tickets with code on trainpal ~❤
I did the same trip except in reverse, leaving from Inverness and traveling to London in April. The lounge in Inverness is a small room with some water, tea, biscuits, and crisps. And not many seats at that. I do agree about the beds, I went to sleep about 15 minutes after the train pulled out of Inverness and slept throughout the night, something I don't often do. I had breakfast in the restaurant car, and while it was very good, there wasn't much of it. Definitely something I would do again, although I didn't get the fancy bottles of stuff that you did.
The Nightstar stock ended up in Canada and not Scotland - it was never used in service in the UK!
I think required too much 'Hotel Power' for it to be used on the OHL in the UK. I think in Canada they had to attach a generator coach to the formations.
I think he ment that the locomotives run the caladonian sleeper not the coaches
@@Sebastian69-l4z The nightstar stock was a set of luxury sleeper coaches intended to run Scotland - Channel Tunnel - EU Destinations. They were never used in the UK as they required too much hotel power (for lighting, air conditioning, water pumps and a load of other electrical systems ) for the OHL to supply via the locomotive feed.
@barrieshepherd7694 you are half right.
The Nightstar stock did indeed have an incompatible power demand, but the plan was to use some specially-modified Mk 3 sleepers as generator cars. They did build a batch of them. You can google photos.
What actually killed the nightstar project was the massive increase in short haul European airlines. Why take 10 hours to get from London to Amsterdam, arriving at some ungodly hour, when you can take a 90 min flight whenever you want?
@@trottergraeme flights between London and Amsterdam are only 45-50 ?minutes. The scheduled time includes taxiing and a little buffer time for delays
@11:34 Very happy that you have an under 26 railcard ... but I think you should really quote the ticket price before your discount !
It's £200+, approx £210 fir 2 in a standard room (no shower)
Done the London to Edinburgh Lowlander service several times with a Club Room. I found the comfort not too bad, but it really depends where you are in the carriage. Beds are a bit on the narrow side, I eventually found out on my most recent journey that the ladder to the top bunk can be removed. Can be noisy and bumpy if you're over the wheels, less so if you're in the middle. I've always found the price for this rather expensive, usually because I'm booking trips at the last minute and not eligible for rail card.
Very nice looking train indeed. Nice video as usual! 🤗🤗🤗
I’ve always wanted to go on a sleeper train, looks really fun!
I’ve been on one especially Amtrak it’s so much fun
You have a very clear presenting voice. Really enjoyed this informative video.
Thank you!
Excited for this one!
Great review as always.
This is one of my bucket list trips and looking to go in October.
Same room but £380 for 2 of us 😮
Took the Night Rivera service last week and really enjoyed it so hopefully the Caledonian won't disappoint.
I don't know how I feel about calling the Caledonian Sleeper a "luxury" service. It's about the standard one should demand from a daily sleeper service. And indeed by all accounts the Sleeper and its southern sister the Night Riviera have reawakened Britain's enthusiasm for overnight sleeper trains. I believe that phasing out the description of them as a "luxury" experience might help to further normalize the services and thus encourage train operating companies to see them as a viable market outside of leisure travel, something that everyone wants, not just rich tourists. Here's hoping that this success might lead to further sleeper ventures, like reviving the Irish Mail from London to Holyhead to connect with the Irish ferries.
I think the terms "luxury" and "5 star" are used by the video editor, not the train companies themselves. They are more realistic.
I have seen other reviews of this train, but these beets the lot with great detail. Thanks.
Very interesting review. I find the titles "Luxury suite" and "5-star" misleading, because people may be expecting the hotel equivalent - and a 5 star hotel has a (large) minimum space requirement. Train berths are ingenious but unavoidably compact. However the beds are clearly more comfortable than in in previous sleepers, and the effective en-suite shower is a big bonus in Club. From this description I would certainly try this sleeper. 7 hours uninterrupted sleep is a strong recommendation; I used the Mk 1 and Mk 3 sleepers and the slightly spartan beds and various jiggles and bumps meant I got broken sleep even though I'm usually a heavy sleeper. Sounds like the suspension on the new trains may be better as well. As another commenter has said, a great pity that these trains aren't also available for overnight trips to Europe, much preferable to a horrendous early morning start (either by plane or Eurostar) or a costly overnight hotel stay.
I agree it's a great service & if you can get a cheaper fare, very good value for money. Brought back some good memories.
I can second that with the seats.... tried it last month from Crewe to Dundee but really struggled to sleep, think I only had 2 hour sleep in total, the price you paid however, that is a bargain, great video
Great trip report
I think, that you should pronounce the 'CAF' as one syllable. Fun fact: CAF stands for "Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles", which means "Construction and Other Railway Services" and is notable for longest tram type in the world, the CAF Urbos 3 (especially 9 section variant produced for Budapest, Hungary).
Urbos 3 is a beautiful vehicle, the 9 section version being 56 meters. We have 55 meter Alstom Citadis trams in Dublin, and they certainly feel extremely long while walking on the street.
@@TheEpicAppleEater01That seems, that Dublin has second longest trams in the world. Those Citadises were slightly beaten by Urbos in 2015.
Here in Wales we call them Cheap As F--k
@@EE12CSVT Why so controversial here? You said a vulgarity, though.
@@igorsiuda8108 That's how rail staff and enthusiasts refer to them here. Dearie me, sounds like someone is triggered over the word fuck, which I originally abbreviated. Your first day on the Internet or without your parents' supervision?
Cool! I'm going on that to Fort William in the same room!
Great trip.
The EMD loco idling at the end was epic
And given the class 92s original design intentions? I can only hope for the day that the trains originate - not at London Euston but - at Brussels Midi.
Alight at Stratford Intl. For London; change at Lille Europe for destinations in France, Switzerland, Italy & Spain; change at Brussels for services to Luxembourg, the Netherlands & Germany.
Possibly even hop onto another sleeper after a day taking in Brussels and wake up in Eastern Europe or Scandinavia.
I always felt that Eurostar showed very "old railway" thinking both in their planning and then cancelling of the night sleepers. "London to Paris/Brussels is too short", but they overlook the gain from doing all your connecting travel and passport check-in at "dead time" in the evenings rather than a horribly early start (either plane or Eurostar) or an overnight hotel stay. I am sure Messrs Ryanair would have made something of it given the chance. It's a tricky thing to optimise because you'd really want a multiportioned train dropping sections off in Brussels, Amsterdam and Koln/Frankfurt, where people can sleep on till the morning and then catch a convenient connection. In reverse you'd gradually tack them all together. But a Brussels Midi/Lille to Glasgow/Edinburgh portion also makes sense if the passport logistics can be managed; is there sufficient market though?
Great video,it makes me want to try it
@0:47 They now have loads of departure screens on the terrace outside Euston station building - so people now wait outside drinking coffee / beer ... and the main concourse is now nicely relaxed !
Wow, this looks awesome! 😍
It was! 😁
Excellent, many thanks. Small point: King's Cross is the main departure point for east of Scotland as you probably know, not Euston ref your intro as "Euston the gateway for Scotland". IRN BRU might have been your choice of drink(!) and a Tunnock's wafer!!
But that is only for the daytime service surely? All the sleeper services to Scotland have gone from Euston for many years.
@@iankemp1131 Yes indeed, but it gives the impression Euston is the MAIN gateway for ALL Scottish trains whereas in reality most trains go up the east coast to Berwick, Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen and Inverness
Despite that these are brand-new coaches specially built for a sleeper train they have the most appalling bogies. As the speed rises above about 40 there is a constant squeal from the wheels, rising to a crescendo as you near the end of the coaches and positively earsplitting going through the corridor connections (which I had to do five times to reach the club car). Fortunately I was in the middle of the coach so it wasn't too bad in my compartment The azuma I came south on was much quieter and had a much smoother ride.
Secondly the reference to club compartments having priority access to the club car is rhubarb. If the train is full ayou need to go and book your breakfast the moment you have boarded otherwise all the slots will be gone and you'll have to make do with a very limited choice in your compartment. As to the evening meal I strongly recommend you patronise the signal box restaurant in Euston forecourt where you will get a better choice and better seating arrangements.
Having an ensuite toilet is nice but I would strongly warn against using the shower as even with the lid down the toilet roll gets soggy and the slightly raised drain means that water is shopping around on the floor for the rest of the journey.
I will add though that the bed although narrow was very comfortable
Thank you for this excellent video. Whilst I wouldn’t quarrel with the price of your food - food prices on trains are invariably more expensive than those in outside restaurants, I was surprised you were only offered a stool to eat your meal ! The restaurant car didn’t appear very full so that doesn’t say much for the on board service !
Loved your hair in the intro
To my home city of Inverness :) ironically watching this on a ScotRail classic Inter7City service from Aberdeen to Inverness
The food prices you were charged were a rip off. Wouldn’t have accepted being told to sit on a stool having paid the fare.
Unfortunately the fare you pay does not include a seat unless you reserve one. It’s a misconception that most people make. You pay to travel on the train not for a seat too. As reservations are free just tick the box when online.
@@cannyexplorer5357It depends on the service, but you are right sometimes you have actually book a seat too.
Agreed that Mac Cheese dish including the soft drink maximum should be a tad under £10 not almost £15!
The sleeper is so expensive now. When I was at Uni I had to do a trip to Scotland as part of the course, and I didn't use the sleeper at the time, even though I could afford it. Now they've hiked the price to insane levels, I'll never get to go on it! 😭
This truly looks like a first class on singapore airlines!
When GBRF get their class 99s, they could use a few on Caledonian sleeper
When I went on it, it was anything but 5 star!
Admittedly out of their control, they didn't get their delivery for the evening food options.
At breakfast, the bacon roll was so tough it wasn't unreasonable to expect it to cut your gums, the bacon itself was the smallest strip. It took ages for them to deliver a sachet of coffee after not giving us any.
And this was staying in an accessible carriage, with a disabled family member, which was quite literally next to the cafe car. I went to the car and asked for a sachet of coffee, and they said they couldn't give us one.
Eventually got it from a staff member coming from the other end of the train???
It was 2 stars at best!
I made this trip last Friday. However I only had a Seat. it was comfortable for sitting but not for sleeping and we had an hour delay in London.
At those prices it better be a 'bucket list' standard experience
Great video. Thought we might get the full monty shower experience 🤣
Nice work. Come to Australia - we have some pretty good trains, including our version of the HST - the XPT.
That's Very Good Video 👍
Thank you very much!
wow, you have finished dinner before Watford Junction. That was quick
Yep my thoughts exactly - given the usual time for food to be given a Guinness record in fact!
looks like absolutely the best sleeper train in all of europe! why can't continental sleeper trains have such a high-quality product??
Five star coverage
Although there are cheaper ways of making this trip, the type of accommodation and the timing of your reservation make a big difference in the price. Consider that you may be saving on an overnight hotel stay. When everything is working as it should, many have counted this as a worthwhile experience.
It’s best that you are not too wide a person, if you are you could get stuck trying to get to your cabin . I have done the journey a couple of times . Never slept too well the train jolts about too much in the night .shunting and dividing of carriages at Edinburgh in the middle of the night as well.
Nice video
The Caledonian Sleeper is one of TWO sleeper train services in the UK. (The other from GWR - Night Riviera, I presume?) It's a good thing you choose a bargain of a deal for this journey for the comfort and atmosphere, though I do agree the meals aren't cheap. From what I know about this service (through other reviewers), the Caledonian Sleeper is not quite as the same standard as OBB Nightjet...
Happy homecoming! 😊
*CORRECTION (WITH EDITS):* _Avanti West Coast is __-no longer-__ still operated by FirstGroup and Trenitalia, but the contract lasts until October. It may be taken over by a operator of last resort (which is the case for a now nationalised rail network). Hopefully by October, it's good for the better, even as they build the delayed and overbudget HS2 from London Euston to Birmingham and beyond._
Avanti is still owned by first. Caledonian was recently taken over by the Scottish government though
Caledonian Sleeper is now owned and operated by the Scottish Government, Avanti West Coast is still operated by a joint venture between First and Trenitalia, but the franchise is due for renewal in October, so we shall see what happens.
I would love to do a trip on the Caledonian Sleeper. Macaroni Pies are also great. If you're ever in Paisley, go to the Paisley Pie Co. They have a great selection of pies, and I'm sure that they do macaroni pies.
Inverness is so pretty
Lets hope you dont end up over one of the many flats they have. The old mk3 were comfier. BTW the 92 only hauls it to Edinburgh, north they use diesel locos
The planned euro tunnel sleeper carriages are now in service in Canada, I believe.
Forget hotels, I'm just buying a ticket for one of these if I ever find myself in the UK.
"Not much things over than passengers" *pigeon flies in*
Cool train, but no one beats the old soviet sleepers 💪🏼
It looks like a big improvement over the train I rode in 2018. I see Haggis is still on the menu and I wish I had tried it despite the warnings.
Warnings about Haggis? Ach away, the haggis is brilliant! A very unique taste but well worth trying if you haven't before 😁
@@LIKWID Absolutely right. Haggis is a very nice savoury dish and also relatively cheap. Nowadays it's on the shelves at our local supermarket and I periodically buy it for an appetising change. It's the idea of what it is that can put people off. Rather like the reaction of Mr Hacker in "Yes Minister" when he was told what a sausage (at that time) could contain and had eaten a couple for breakfast ...
Interesting video and a bargain price. But…’often times’!!
The Caledonian Sleeper is still the best train in the UK that has the best rolling stocks and the coaches are so lovely.
It's a shame that there dont seem to be fares anywhere near that cheap now!! ;)
I'm glad you refered to Crewe as being in the Midlands, which although it officially is in the North West, it's geographically in the Midlands, albeit the very north of it.
certainly not a midlands town in my view (biased as someone who lives in crewe)
@@sidesplitter9497 Maybe not, but geographically you're on the same longitude as many Midlands towns in Staffs, Derbys, and Notts.
Neat stuff. I do hope the Mk3's formerly used on the route are still around, surely some open access operators in Europe would like to get their hands on them. DSB in Denmark actually used ex-British rail Mk3 sleepers for around 10 years from 1987 to 1997 for their domestic sleeper train service that got discontinued in 1997. There's actually a 28min long old TV documentary in danish on youtube detailing a journey on one of these night trains in its last year of operation.
how did they retrofit them for the Danish railways, I thought the UK had narrow gauge rail
Actually the UK does use standard gauge, just like the rest of Europe. But the British railways have a smaller clearance. That basically means that trains in the UK can't be as tall or as wide as in the rest of Europe (which is why the UK has no double decker trains). As for adapting the Mk3 sleepers to use in Denmark, there was a bit of trouble. The Mk3's came with some weird semi automatic couplers, but what was done was they were fitted with completely traditional couplers on one end, and at the doors, they added steps on the outside so that passengers could enter the coach from the low danish train platforms. The coaches were already narrower than other danish trains so there was plenty of room to add those steps to the outside.
@@drdewott9154 thanks for the reply! Very interesting
@@timbrust9739UK is standard gauge, our loading gauge is just pathetic
@@Danse_Macabre_125 Only compensation is that any carriage that fits on British Railways will fit anywhere else in Europe (like the Mk3 sleepers).
Just subscribed
Ticket price was certainly reasonable but I think I'd bring my own dinner/evening snack...
7:20 It is not even a camera issue. Novadays all interior light are LEDs, and you barely can downregulate the brightness in other way than chopping its power current to short but frequent pulses... which camera perceives much better than human eye (because also reads world in pulses).
I'm not sure how you were able to get such a bargain as on their website for a random January/February date (definitely off-season) the Caledonian Double en-suite is £410.00, Club en-suite £290.00, and Classic £205.00. Anywho, good video although the price info was useless.
At that price I would be interested in trying but so often it’s very expensive and reviews have been very mixed. Hopefully under new management things will continue to improve.
Late to early that’s good
Exactly! 😁
Took the sleeper to Edinburgh in July the only thing I would say is that the LES light around the room light button is way too bright. I needed the eye mask for that reason alone. But, can't fault the rest of the experience.
Tom Daley has youtube channel!
9:45 Superalbs Travels woke up and decided war
Did you ride last Christmas?
I went on it with my mum to Scotland it was really fun but do not under any circumstances book a seat if ur going to sleep on the train bc it suckkks
Lindo trem gostei de luxo
7:19 I have a complaint instead of reducing the brightness the LEDs are just switches on and off quickly causing camera artifacts can't trust those Scotts
My wife and I used the Caledonian to Glasgow and back in July. We both agreed that if our most luxurious cabin and the rest was considered fine, you know that you are in Britain. For the return trip, we took our own bits of food to avoid a second inedible breakfast. The staff was nice on the way to Glasgow. On the way back, I didn’t see staff.
The Scottish Government only took over the service a month ago, I hadn't even realised yet!
Either this was secretly sponsored by the service or they really stepped up their game because there are plenty of videos about how poor of a service this is (especially for the price) not a few years ago
Glad to see theh stepped up their service!
I think that this sleeper should operate at Aberdeen to Penzance route instead of Voyagers
How did you get such a good price? They seem much more whenever i have looked
I was very lucky, I think down to suppressed demand due to Covid restrictions.
6:14 ouch.
The prices now are:
£350 minimum raising to up to £460 in peak times for a club ensuite.
£295 minimum for classic (without a toilet)
£110 for just a seat.
Given the price of a hotel is around £50 quid a night, these prices cost around the same as a mini get away to a full week away. This is just the way there, if you want a return it would probably just be cheaper to fly to Spain and have a nice holiday in the warmth over there.
Who they think will spend that much just going to a place, do they really want tourists to already be skint before they have even arrived in Scotland?!
£50 a night? In your dreams.............
It’s definently more expensive now. Over 230 pounds.
I‘m interested to travel by this Train with interrail. I think it‘s much less comfortable than a sleeping cabin.
What do you mean? This train has sleeping cabins! :)
£14.30 for main meal and a drink on a par with a decent restaurant and not especially expensive. Caley Sleeper been done to death now on CZcams, I feel.
Night riviera far superior
I took the sleeper from Glasgow to Euston last November and even at £99 I wouldn't opt to do it again. No meal services on the train and no prior warning until I was boarding, bed was the most uncomfortable I have ever experienced and that includes the 6 years I spent as an Infantry soldier and the room creaked and rattled all night. All this for the bargain price of £235. The excuse for no meal service was they're short staffed but they have the audacity to charge top £££ for the service and pay their staff shit? Of course no one wants to work for them.
As a regular user of the sleeper services in the UK since 1976 I am of the opinion that the new Mk5 coaches are the worst variant yet.
Furthermore, I no longer waste my money on their pathetic, and stupidly expensive first class offering.
On the positive side, the staff are generally very friendly, and timekeeping is now pretty decent, especially after the disastrous start the new service suffered from.
Just a shame we still don't have overnight trains to mainland Europe.
5-star service for 5-star prices
Suiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii 0:15 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii
I'd like to do this just for the experience, but I snore like a basturt so I'd need to book expensive room. 😮
What is the packet 7:10?
Looks like the earplugs, sorry I must have missed them. 😅
It's GB Railfreight, not Great British Railfreight.
How on earth did he get it so cheap!? It's £115 at the cheapest at the moment.
Under age 26 rate. For students, I guess.
Good, positive, video but one small comment - no-one here refers to it as Inverness-Shire (or Ross-Shire etc)
It is always just 'Highland'
you also could have spent that £99 on a standard class single to Nottingham.
From Derby? Or Sheffield? 😂😂😂
@@SuperalbsTravels From East Midlands Parkway
@@Kobold_Green 😭
putting solo people on terrible seating places just because solo -_-
Is this supposed to be impressive? The so called restaurant looks more like a cheap supermarket cafe.