EDB-EUS Caledonian Sleeper – Classic

Operator: Caledonian Sleeper

Headcode: 1M11

Route:    EDB-EUS

Class:    Classic Room

SeatRoom: F10

Date:     Sunday 16^th April 2023

After an enjoyable couple of nights in Corrour (read about that here), followed by a less enjoyable journey south via a combination of train and rail replacement minibus, we were back in Edinburgh ready to start the penultimate leg of our journey home.

With the desire to provide a buffer in case the rail replacement service was delayed, we had decided not to head south with LNER, but to instead catch the Edinburgh portion of Caledonian Sleeper’s ‘Lowlander’. The ‘Lowlander’ runs as two portions from Edinburgh and Glasgow, with them usually meeting at Carstairs to attach and run south via the West Coast Mainline (WCML). However, owing to engineering works taking place on the WCML, we would be heading via the East Coast Mainline (ECML), with the Glasgow portion being brought over to Edinburgh before joining with our portion for the journey south.

Our buffer ended up not being needed, with the rail replacement arriving in Glasgow at the time it had been scheduled to and so, after catching a slower service across to Edinburgh, we decided to settle down in the Brewhemia beer hall located opposite the station entrance (you’ll want to head out of the exit by platforms 8 & 9). With the Caledonian Sleeper not scheduled to depart until 2325, we decided to have dinner before boarding and use the limited time onboard purely for sleep.

Caledonian Sleeper contract the use of the LNER first class lounge at Edinburgh, however this is only available for guests travelling in ‘Club’ or ‘Double’ rooms and so when we arrived back at the station from Brewhemia, we had a short wait on the platform before boarding. This did give me a chance to take a wander down to the far end of the platform to see which class 92 would be hauling us south, to find 92038 would be doing the honours.

Boarding started just before the arrival of the Glasgow portion and so we were able to settle in our room and get ready for bed before the shunting started. We were once again travelling in a ‘Classic’ room which is not ensuite, although we were in the room adjacent to the coach’s toilet so didn’t have far to travel. The good news is that the noise from the toilet isn’t really noticeable even if you’re in the adjacent room and once I was asleep I certainly wasn’t woken by the noise.

With our journey being via the ECML, the shunt to connect the Glasgow and Edinburgh portions was taking place within Edinburgh Waverley. With the Glasgow portion arriving to the rear of ours, the class 92 loco detached and proceeded to ‘run round’ its set of coaches, before reattaching to the rear and propelling the coaches towards the Edinburgh portion. The majority of this is not really noticeable if you’re onboard, with only the thud and slight jolt as the two portions are attached.

Departing Edinburgh a minute late, I was asleep before we reached the border and so don’t have much to report of the journey itself. When running ECML the services tend to stop at Newcastle and Doncaster for crew changes, with other stops occasionally required again for crewing purposes. Unlike when running via the WCML there are no advertised ‘public’ stops and so it is technically a non-stop journey between Edinburgh and London.

I awoke to find us travelling through a part of London, although couldn’t really tell where initially. Within a few minutes though we were arriving into the Wembley Yard where Caledonian Sleeper services running via the ECML are required to reverse to access London Euston. At Wembley the locomotive is either ‘run round’ to continue the journey or an additional class 92 is added onto the other end of the service. With it being relatively early on a Monday morning, we were adjacent to a couple of stabled Intermodal services that would continue their journeys later in the morning.

Not enamoured with the bacon rolls on our northbound journey, we had decided we’d get breakfast once we arrived into London. However as even ‘Classic’ room guests get a free hot and cold drink and small cereal bar, so we had requested these to start the day. These were delivered whilst we were in Wembley Yard so around 20 minutes before our arrival into Euston. The last leg of our journey was uneventful and was mostly dedicated to repacking our bags and getting ready to leave the train on arrival into Euston.

Once again our journey with Caledonian Sleeper was a pleasant one, although much shorter than our previous ones. Having now travelled on both the Glasgow (for work and not reviewed) and Edinburgh portions, I probably wouldn’t travel on the ‘Lowlander’ in future unless is was really necessary just due to the short amount of time you’re actually onboard. However if needed, it is certainly a pleasant journey.

Lounge              0*

Seat/Facilities     4*

Food               3*

Service             4*

Punctuality         5*

Overall Rating      17/25 (read about my rating system here!)