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See the luxurious new Caledonian Sleeper trains which launch in October

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We don’t really focus much on sleeper trains on Head for Points, although Rob is doing an 11 hour trip from Stockholm to Lapland at Easter which he may or may not write about!

In the UK the sleepers to Scotland have lost a lot of their appeal in recent years.  Let’s be honest, travelling to Scotland overnight on a very dated train with (possibly) uncomfortable mattresses and a stranger sharing your room doesn’t sound tempting.

This is why Serco has spent £100 million to buy 75 new more luxurious coaches for its Caledonian Sleeper trains which will be rolled out from October 2018.

The first carriages have reached Glasgow via the Channel Tunnel and looking at the pictures they are a great improvement over their predecessor from 1980.

There will be a range of accommodation with the cheapest seats being the Comfort Seats.

Those staying in Club Rooms or Suites can have dinner and drinks in the Club Car.

Suites, Club Rooms and Classic Rooms all come with an en suite bathroom and ‘bespoke mattresses’.

Here is a Club Room:

…. and a Classic Room:

Peter Strachan, Chairman, Serco Caledonian Sleeper, said: “We believe the new Caledonian Sleeper trains will truly set a new standard in overnight travel and we have worked closely with Transport Scotland on their development since taking over the franchise in 2015.”

Comfort Seats start from £45, Classic Rooms are from £85 per person, Club Rooms are from £125 per person and Suites will be priced from £200 per person.

The company has removed the option of booking a bed in a shared room unless you are booking with a friend or partner.  It isn’t clear if a single person will get a discount on a room designed for two.

Tickets will be available to book from next month on this website.  The new trains will initially operate on the ‘Lowlander’ route between London and Glasgow / Edinburgh.

Comments (44)

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  • Rich says:

    There are so many issues / known problems with the existing sleeper that they have agreed printed compensation forms!!!

  • IslandDweller says:

    Pedantry corner. Some new carriages are indeed in Glasgow for acceptance testing, but that’s not where those photos were taken. The carriages delivered are empty – they’ll return to Spain for final fit out before being re delivered. (Initial testing is all about gauge and coupling stuff)
    As for sharing with strangers. You’ll never do that with the new service – though choosing to share with someone you know who still be an option.
    The whole service is painfully loss making but money was allocated by the former coalition government to enable it to continue. At that time Danny Alexander was MP for Inverness and the late Charles Kennedy was MP for Lochaber (Fort William)

  • vlcnc says:

    Would love to read the sleeper journey to Lapland! Always wanted to something like this in Scandinavia!

    Also wasn’t there talk of another option of airline style seats that go flat? Or has that been abandoned?

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

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