The longest passenger journey in the UK. Caledonian Sleeper Euston to Inverness
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- čas přidán 25. 06. 2024
- After an unsuccessful attempt last month, due to a nationwide train strike, I finally managed to cross something off my UK bucket list - a sleeping compartment on the Caledonian Sleeper from Euston to Inverness. It was so much fun, and would love to do it again.
Filmed January 2023 | London, UK.
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*** TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 Introduction
00:04:02 A tour of the cabin
00:06:08 Departure from Euston
00:06:26 A Toilet Tour
00:06:58 Crewe
00:07:31 Carlisle
00:07:44 Edinburgh Waverley
00:08:18 Aviemore
00:09:30 Arrival into Inverness
Haha I think that’s above average for sleep time on the Caley sleeper!!! And to cover the windows, that makes no sense eh! Great journey though, and we’re on it tonight!
I've watched the caledonian sleeper being reviewed by many a youtuber, even the big names in the trip report circles. Your's always stands out, just no nonsense, no paid sponser adverstisements , just say it as it is and i really like that. Keep up the great work.
Absolutely spot on!
I agree 100% and I like Scott's channel. Dunno why they call it the "Sleeper" as there appears to be very little of that happening, and I realize Serco have to plug something, so they rave on about the scenery, but at night what are you going to see, even if you could see out of the window.
Hear hear
I'll watch Scott any day over content creators that are sponsored by companies. I know I'll be getting a real and honest review this way.
The carriages are super expensive. The chairs are super uncomfortable.
Just saw Pitlochry on the scrolling stops... I love Pitlochry, fond memories of Atholl Palace every year as a kid, and with the wife as part of our honeymoon 💕
There used to be a service which went from Brighton to Glasgow! Accepted the challenge, and went with my 2 daughters and a foster son!
What an amazing journey! Mainly up the West coast, absolutely brilliant! Even better as was when having a "Family Railcard ", meant that children travelled for £1!.
Those were the days 👍
Ah brought the seeds along for £1, and that's everything that's wrong with society. Pay for your kids and stop taking subs.
Cross country used to go to Brighton, there was also a Poole to Glasgow
A brilliant take on this classic route! Thanks Scott, keep on, your channel is mega!
Excuse me, but this is false. The longest train journey isn't London to Inverness. It's clearly Edinburgh to Edinburgh via the Fife circle during rush hour; it certainly feels like it. 😉
Definitely it takes forever lol 😂
Hahahahha
😂😂😂😂
@@sophxxx9995 You know it!
Sorry you're both wrong. According to records the longest journey is crosscountry Aberdeen to Penzance
I have travelled regularly on the sleeper train for over 20
years and there is so much to recommend it. I used to love it
because you could avoid the ghastly airport check in queues
and the trains always arrived on time. True, the old trains
didn't look that special but you got a decent sleep and the
service was familiar and mostly friendly. The new trains were
supposed to be an upgrade but almost everything about
them is Worse.
One of the best sleepers is the evening commute from London to the home counties. You get to sleep wedged in like a sardine and standing up, and if you're very lucky you'll get a seat with another tired commuter resting their head on your shoulder.👍
Which can be nice... unless their BO suggests they're soap dodgers.
I had fantastic journey on the Caledonian this past summer, agree the cabin is small for just a solo traveler, would have been tight with two people! Glad to see you enjoyed this trip. Love your content.
Arriving in Inverness just in time for the train to THURSO in the far north of jockland . The scenery on the Far north line is absolutely stunning .
We love Aviemore, Inverness, Highlands, Outer Hebrides, we adore Scotland!
Very interesting, watchable videos.
Thanks
Thank you for your support. It's really appreciated... Scott.
Haha cannot get enough of these videos Scott. Laughing because of the outtakes.
Hi Scott!
Just wanted to say I'm a new viewer, but loving the channel - including the more insightful tidbits into the more technical aspects. Talking about route lengths was a topic I'd never thought be of interest, until now haha! Safe travels!
Took a trip from Inverness to Berlin .Caledonian Sleeper to Euston,Euro Star to BrusselsInt,BrusselsMidi to Koln,Koln to Berlin.
two hiccups on the way meant a broken down shuttle in mid tunnel 1 hour and an overnight stop in Aachen this was due to some lunatic having an issue in Koln station and the authorities closing the station until things got sorted.
I have done this journey many times with the present operator. It is a very good operation. The food from North to South (Inverness to Euston) was superb. The staff are lovely. I will continue to use it for business and personal use and I will pay the premium for a double bed occasionally. The price Vs a 10hr plane journey is very favourable.Personally, first time I used it, I slept like he did. in fits and starts. After that, I sleep like a baby every time. it's very comfortable.
That breakfast looked a lot better than the one you had on the Stenaline ferry from Belfast to Glasgow!
Love the videos. Getting excited to go back home in June. Can’t wait to get tucked into a good old Scottish real fast. Keep up the great work!
You've become one of my favorite CZcams video bloggers. Cheers from Toronto.
If this trip is on your 'bucket list' I'd suggest Euston to Fort William in mid June. It's light from 4am and you can watch the scenery along the West Highlight line. Need to travel at least Club so you have access to the Euston First Class lounge and the Club Car for dining.
Always looking forward to new videos Scott. Good stuff 👌🏼
Surely the longest train journey in the UK is Aberdeen to Penzance. However the return journey only goes back as far as Dundee for some reason.
Hi Terry, the Aberdeen-Penzance isnt currently running, so at time of shooting the video, EUS-INV was the longest.
Caledonian Sleeper Euston to Inverness: 444 miles (712 km), journey time 11h30mn.
Meanwhile in France: TGV Paris-Bordeaux, Wednesday January 25, departure Paris 9:11 am - arrival Bordeaux 11:14 am, 630 km, journey time *2h03mn* price 39 euros...
Wednesday 1st February, departure Paris 9:11 - arrival Bordeaux 11:14mn, 630 km, journey time *2h03mn* price 19 euros...😜
Excellent video as usual. Very informative. Thanks.
Thank you for this great video
A new video, what a treat on this grey, cold thursday evening!
Thanks scott our well travelled scotsman glad you had a good journey
Awesome trip, amazing video, thank you
Really enjoyed
Brilliant 😊
I just stumbled on your video, really insiteful. I'm doing this trip in a couple months, thanks for the intro.
Brilliant 👏.
I remember suggesting you do this as I live in Inverness
🤭 I often wonder if there are regular visitors on these services or if they're all CZcamsrs! But I'm grateful for you doing one too Scott :)
Haha. Various travellers in fact ranging from wealthy overseas visitors (they book the better accommodation) to corporate users to parliamentarians.
@@alexmcwhirter6611 Wealthy tourists and pricks on expense accounts, not many regular Scots using it now, they can feel all warm and fuzzy knowing they are funding it through their taxes however.
Brilliant review of the Caledonian Sleeper keep up the good work I look forward to watching more of your future videos
Scott😊 I have happy memories of an overnight train journey from London to Scotland in early 1989, when I was a young man. Like you, I travelled from London Euston to Inverness. Good to see that that service still exists in this day and age 😊
The cabin in the train is enough for one person.
Went on the Caledonian sleeper in April, on my way back from a concert in London
I travelled down with a friend (on Easyjet) so it was a real hustle and bustle
Contrast that with our trip back up. Chilling for a couple of hours in the Euston lounge
Leisurely making our way to the train and boarding.
I’ll say the room was tight of course. But to us the room wasn’t the reason we were on it, it was the bed, and once we clamoured into the bunks we were fine! The En suite toilet was really nice to have (didn’t use the shower though)
Of course we hung out for an hour or so in the club car before bed, and our breakfast in the morning was lovely!
Also saved my neck too, I hadn’t realised at this time that Sunday busses to my house were completely cancelled, so if we had flew back on the Sunday, I would’ve had to get a (very expensive) taxi back home otherwise
Excellent video as always Scott, hope all is well, take care
I knew the important thing was breakfast! hahaha love your videos!
Interesting video. I would love to do this journey. I did the Paddington to Penzance sleeper journey a few years ago and loved it. It was actually one of the best night's sleep I have ever had anywhere.
On my bucket list of trips to do
Wonderful video, Scot. I am so happy that you did this route and with your own unique spin, as always. Happy and blessed New Year to you (is it too late to say that?)
Should have taken that mattress home as a working souvenir Scott.
Another fantastic video and the wee outtakes at the end
I also travelled Standard solo on the one occasion I've so far travelled on the Mk 5 sleepers. I'm pretty sure those cabins are even smaller than the equivalent Mk 3 ones they replaced - it's as if there's an inch or two shaved off everything - even the corridors feel tighter. I had great difficulty opening my suitcase in such a tight space and it took a considerable while to work out how to remove the fixed ladder so that I could get it under my bed. If I travel by sleeper again it will have to be in a more accessible cabin!
Used to do that run 40 years ago ! Spring was best .. Woken for "Breakfast" going over Slochd... Pine trees and Snow after the squalour of London.. Dropping down past Raigmore into Inver-snakie...and then NORTHWARDS ! Stupid to over-paint Windows.
Great video as alway's Scott
Scott Love your video 👍👍👍
Hi Scott, another excellent video, from a fellow Scot🏴
...and the award for "Biggest number of reply guys correcting something that's already been explained" goes to... Scott from Planes, Trains, Everything. I salute you!
Oh for goodness sake let's get down to brass tacks!!!! Never mind "this journey is 4 sleepers longer". Great video, makes me want to go to Inverness and have a full Scottish breakfast right now!! Nice one Scott 👍
Used the mk3 coaches a few times with work always s bound, early 2000s. The ticket was: lounge at Waverley and Euston, a solo cabin, voucher for the bar, (enough for a nightcap and oatcakes), comfort pack with eyeblinds, tooth care etc, bacon roll breakfast, then 1st class ticket north bound on the lner, class 91 ex kings x with evening meal and wine. Was a bargain for the business! Then you could sell the comfort pack on ebay too!!!
Great video Scott
Great video 😊
good video well done James
Wow, they don't serve breakfast on the train any more? Service sure has declined.... I stayed at the Royal Highland Hotel right next to the station and ate at Hootananny pub. Brings back memories!
Many years since I have done that sleeper journey which I did many times, mostly having to share with a stranger. One lady traveller chain smoked through the night! That's how long ago it was.... As a non smoker, I was kippered. PS Never knew that about the antlers.
Also another fact about the Caley Sleeper is that it's the longest passenger train in terms of coaches. The train from Euston comprises of 16 coaches where it splits into 4 sections of 4
Nearly right! There are two trains. The Lowland (for Glasgow and Edinburgh) and the Highland, which has three sections, not four (Aberdeen, Inverness, Fort William). The sections are not of equal length, the longest being for Inverness, but when they are combined they do indeed make the longest passenger train consist in the UK.
@@markwringe2826 I remember on Realtime Trains once, a 22-coach Pendolino was supposedly going to do the run from London to Manchester. I think there would be severe issues for both ends! An 18-coach Pendo is slightly more plausible, perhaps not via Macclesfield though!
@@Northerner_Transport_Hub That may be too lengthy. Remember the regional Eurostar sets were 14 cars (normal Eurostar Alstom set is 18 cars).
@Sleeper Train Fan really? Would be amazing to see.
I've had the pleasure of the "Caledonian Sleeper " several times.. in a seat and in a Club solo.. In fact 2moro evening I'm travelling down to London from Edinburgh however in the dreaded seat.. we shall see how it pans out
ahhh, coffee at Charlies Cafe...my go to when im driving the X99 Thurso to Inverness
I also once visited Inverness station and also had something very important to do. To cremate my younger brother. Can't say I remember much about the city apart from asking directions from what I expected were two locals yet turned out to be two cockneys ( Londoners ) working on a contract plus the Bed & Breakfast I booked failed to serve breakfast!
I hope you keep amassing subscribers Scott! Your Scotland videos make me miss home :(
Hi Scott great video. I did same journey myself in 2016 with my late wife
We slept all the way to the beginning of the highlands. I was railway staff so we got a priv rate. It was £21 each. Tickets bought at local station in Aldershot. Its was the old sleeper stock,so comfortable. 😊
Yeah, big choice, think what you missed at Watford Junction.
Great video.
Artysans cafe near the train station in Inverness is lovely place to eat and all for a good cause. Great video.
I did Euston to Aberdeen in the same cabin back in November so a very similar experience to you
Hi Scot could you give us your top 10 if you haven’t done it already
Cheers
Scott Nice. One 👍👍😊
Hi Scott, great video, although I remember you once said about toilet tours..'i don't do them!' we've booked EUS to FTW and return on it in June and hopefully see more out of the windows.😊 🏴
Its also the longest train in length in the UK, so long that can only fit into 1 platform at London Euston
hey scot, where you stood on the water in inverness behind you there was also a nice hotel in appertements, i did that with a group trip greetings from wietze braem from adinkerke, belgium
Excellent video. Would love to do the sleeper to Inverness. Getting a window blocked by the logo is a downer though.
I thought the 5 point antler in its 3 + 2, is supposed to represent the three destinations on the 'Highland Beds' (Fort William, Inverness and Aberdeen) and the two destinations on the 'Lowland Beds' (Glasgow and Edinburgh). But I like the geographical west to east that you did. I have done all 5 of these more times than I can count, both for work and leisure. I also did the Euston to Stranraer Harbour Boat Train sleeper back in the 1980s, and the various Nightrider trains, including when the Glasgow train was routed via Dumfries.
Great video Scott, I liked the clips at the end that were ruined by announcements. When I film I often get barking dogs! I might do a whole film of Barking Dogs
Nice video
Once again a great video, with plenty of VAT. Though the choice between Watford Junction and Aviemore seems somewhat less relevant when travelling in the winter.😊
Great video Scott! You are correct with the Aberdeen-Penzance. I rode it in October, it ran once in December but now isn't running until Mid March.
Service restarted on Jan 12th.
@@steveluckhurst2350 if you look at the timetable it's not running after the 12th until March now
@@Midlandstransporthub whatever the timetable says, it's running now!
It’s running, but only Aberdeen-Plymouth currently. Still a longer distance than Inverness to Euston!
Scott, you're right, it seems every CZcamsr has done this one - but yours is honest and not beguiled by Serco's publicity into calling it luxury. While it all looks colourful, it's not comfortable. The lounge car seats have bright warm colours - but they're as soft as a park bench. They make a big song and dance about the food - but the breakfast is microwaved. I found the upper berth really uncomfortable - I tossed and turned all night trying to find a position where I couldn't feel the hard base of the berth (although my partner in the lower berth didn't experience this. Interesting that you found the lower berth good). And yes, it is pricey. We had a cabin with shower. Many will say compare the cost of a daytime train plus a London hotel. But if they do, they should remember this isn't comparable to a hotel room - it's more like sleeping in a cupboard. OK, the old sleeper was cramped too - but I have to say it was a more pleasant experience. We'll stick to day trains for any future travel to London. By the way, when you're in Inverness again, a much nicer cafe is Artysans, slightly closer to the rail station, and run as a social enterprise.
i live in glasgow my self and to be honest , ive always wanted to go to london to board the train all the way to inverness or fort william where ever i decided get off spend a night n head back to glasgow. sounds pointless i know but would love to do just to say ive been on the caledonian sleeper :) great video btw :)
I think that you will find the journey from London Euston to Inverness nearer to 588 miles, as the Caledonian Sleeper goes into Edinburgh Waverley and then reverses rather than take a more direct route through Mossend Yard. Still a very good video P T E.
Classic : using the bowl as a breakwater between the egg and beans. You MAY wish to mix them, but it's YOUR choice. Textbook.
Been waiting for this for months and well worth the wait. Let's hope the Scottish Govt don't make it worse, but make it show the beauty of Scotland. That breakfast looked yummy, but where were the tatty scones? 😉
I miss Euston station I used to work there 🥰🥰🥰
There is actually still a service with cross country. Leaves penzance at about 0925am and goes to Edinburgh
The longest journey in the uk is cross country from Penzance to Aberdeen
I worked headcode 1M10 many years ago, sleepers and motor rail on rear, a long train formation.
A lovely journey indeed, thank you, Scott. Are there meals available on board or at least a breakfast for that kind of money spent?
Nice to see you doing UK trips again. As for the breakfast, just so-so, personally Premier Inn is my go to for reliable large all you can eat breakfast bur each to their own 😊
Me too. I travel to Inverness frequently on the CS and walk to the Premier Inn just across the River Ness for a hearty breakfast.
Perhaps he prefers to give his money to help the local economy.
Best all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast I've ever experienced, in the UK anyway, was at the Crowne Plaza next to the SECC in Glasgow. Sure, the Premier Inn brekkie ain't bad, but it's nowhere near as good as the aforementioned.
@@limmoblack The local Premier Inn employs many local people...
@@scotbotvideos But do they do a 'pay for an adult and your two incredibly greedy teenage kids eat for nothing'?
Hi Scott doing the Inverness ' journey in a few weeks time 'but going via East Coast main line 'track works other West Coast main line ' extra hour on the train for an 12 hour 30 minutes trip !
Hi Scott, let's hope whoever takes it over can get some couchette berths which would make it more cost effective. If wou want a great train journey, not to long but spectacular, do Zurich to Innsbruck during day time in the winter
That is now on my list.
You mentioned Serco running the train and being a bit expensive well they also run Northlink Orkney and Shetland ferries from mainland Scotland. The ferry service they provide from Scrabster to stromness is more expensive then an independent competitor from gills bay. Serco operates Northlink ferries under contract for the Scottish government.
I went on this for the first time on 10th January from Euston to Inverness
Hi Scott, great video. I'm driving to Inverness on Wednesday, there for a few days. Any recommendations?
When I used this service I got off at Aviemore. The issues I found were having to go South to Euston to go North, another stop Just South of Birmingham would have been useful, the corridors are so narrow a wheeled canvas bad was too wide to wheel along and with a camera backpack as well it was a challenge to get to the cabin, the the sleeping across the train was interesting as every braking and acceleration has you rocking about and made me travel sick, beds in the direction of travel would be much better. I had a toilet as part of the cabin fortunately. I was on my own but even so there is no room for your bags unless you use the second bed, if there were two of you it would be very tight, climbing over the bags to get to the toilet. It was a good service but could be a lot better and I think I will drive when I go back later this year.
This will be a journey for me to do at some point in the future (though it'll be after the take over), especially as I plan to be a frequent visitor to the Inverness area! 🙂
It's massive looks like a tent
That Penzance to Aberdeen service will stretch the budget a touch, apparently the full fare was some £1100 😱😭😂
Good video, well done. What I've never understood about sleepers is that the beds run across the room. So when the train brakes you feel as if you might fall out from the top bunk. Much better to have the bed running lengthwise so this problem wold never occur! ps. No proper "Scottish" breakfast ever has beans in it or hash browns. 😉
Sleeping this way made me travel sick, good job there is a toilet handy.
Sounded like you were playing table tennis right at the beginning of the video. 😀
Can't beat a Charlie breakfast 👍