Operator: Caledonian Sleeper
Headcode: 1Y11
Route: GLQ-CRR
Class: Seated
Seat: 7A
Date: Saturday 5th July 2025
Back in July I was once again up in Scotland for work, although this time I had a free day in the middle of my visit and so decided to head up to my favourite spot in the Highlands for the day, Corrour. Wanting to make the most of my time and also try out a slightly different way of getting along the West Highland Line, my day started at the unreasonable hour of 0530 as I made my way to Glasgow Queen Street to catch the Fort William portion of the Caledonian Sleeper.
Whilst I’ve travelled on the sleeper to Fort William on a couple of occasions, both times it has been from London in one of the sleeper rooms. After splitting at Edinburgh, 1Y11, the Fort William portion becomes the first ‘normal’ passenger train from Glasgow to Fort William, for which you can buy tickets for as you would any ScotRail service along the line. The train still has the sleeping coaches on it, however the rear carriage is the ‘seated coach’ which allows regular passengers. Whilst there’s an earlier ScotRail service along the West Highland Line to Oban, this is the first northbound service from Crianlarich through to Fort William and so can be quite popular with people wanting to get out into nature early.
The other advantage of catching the Caledonian Sleeper instead of a ScotRail service, at least for railway enthusiasts, is that the train is hauled by locomotives rather than being a diesel unit. GB Railfreight provide the locomotives (as well as drivers and control services) for Caledonian Sleeper, with 66746 and 73966 provided as the locomotives for my journey north. The Fort William portion of the Sleeper will always have at least one class 73 hauling it from Edinburgh as these locos have the necessary equipment to provide Electric Train Heating (ETH) to the coaches, whilst there’ll usually be either a second class 73 or a class 66 to provide sufficient power for the inclines on the line.
The seated coach is laid out in a 1-2 configuration similar to what you’d find in various first-class offerings, however on Caledonian Sleeper all the seats are ‘airline style’ with large seat back tables, rather than having any fixed tables. Each seat also has both a USB-A and standard power socket as well as a reading light and coat hook. Whilst you can just ‘turn up and go’ in terms of tickets, I would recommend buying tickets in advance and getting a seat reservation if you can as the further north the train travels, the busier it gets and there’s only a total of 27 seats. In my case, the guard was only able to provide me with seat 7A as far as Rannoch, which thankfully was the stop before Corrour, as there were more people joining the train with reservations.
Due to the seated cars being used on the overnight services to and from London (although Fort William passengers have to change coaches at Edinburgh), there’s also have a little locker for each seat under the luggage rack so that those travelling overnight can secure their valuables whilst they sleep. The seats themselves have a decent amount of padding and head rests and, whilst I was generally comfortable for the three or so hours I was seated, I don’t think I’d want to travel all the way from London to Scotland in one!
Seated car passengers are also able to order food and drink from the club car; however, food wise this only seems to be the ‘evening’ options rather than any breakfast options. For me this didn’t matter as I was planning on having breakfast on arrival at Corrour, so I just ordered a coffee, which was soon served by one of the hosts and came with a pack of biscuits, a bargain for £3. Service is at seat via the call bell above the seat, and I was really impressed with how quickly both my order was taken and how quickly it arrived.
After departing Glasgow Queen Street at 0547, one minute early, the service called at Dalmuir and Dumbarton Central before joining the West Highland Line just before Helensburgh Upper at Craigendoran Junction. After Helensburgh, the service calls at all stations to Fort William, with stops at Garelochhead, Arrochar & Tarbet, Ardlui, Crianlarich, Upper Tyndrum, Bridge of Orchy and Rannoch before my destination of Corrour. With much of the West Highland Line being single track, a few minutes delay can snowball, and thankfully for my journey we were mostly on time, losing a few minutes waiting to pass southbound ScotRail services at Ardlui and Rannoch.
Just after departing Rannoch, the guard came through asking that anyone wanting to alight at Corrour headed forward to coach E to get off as only a single door would open and there were a lot of guests from the sleeping cars getting off. The guard’s timing was impeccable as pretty much at the same point the person who’s seat I was in appeared and so it was the perfect moment to make my way down the train. Arriving at 0908, 10 minutes late, it took a couple of minutes for the queue to alight, but I was soon crossing over the disused platform loop to Corrour Station House and had my breakfast ordered within a few minutes.
Whilst the early start was a bit of a killer, catching the Caledonian Sleeper from Glasgow to Corrour was definitely a more pleasant way to traverse the West Highland Line than a ScotRail unit, especially as you can buy a coffee! As I said above, the seats are pretty comfortable and are fine for a few hours in the morning or evening, but I wouldn’t want to try and get a decent night’s sleep in one on the way to or from London. I’ll certainly use this as an option in the future if I am travelling up to the Highlands from Glasgow for the day.
Lounge 0*
Seat/Facilities 3*
Food 3*
Service 5*
Punctuality 4*
Overall Rating 15/25 (read about my rating system here!)
Flights & Times 