Posted 2nd March 2023 | 2 Comments
Future of Caledonian Sleeper in balance
The future of sleeper services between Scotland and London is set to be decided today, when transport minister Jenny Gilruth makes a statement to the Scottish Parliament.
The government decided last year not to extend or renew Serco’s contract to operate the Sleeper, which expires on 23 June.
On 5 October Jenny Gilruth said: ‘Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited has been advised that its proposal to rebase the Franchise Agreement with Scottish Ministers has been rejected on the grounds of not representing value for money to the public.
‘Additionally, I can confirm that a notice was served today which confirms that the Scottish Ministers will terminate the Franchise Agreement with Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited on 25 June 2023.
‘Work is underway to determine arrangements for the continued provision of Caledonian Sleeper rail services. It is worth noting that Serco Caledonian Sleepers Limited has, broadly, delivered well and significantly improved Caledonian Sleeper services over the last 7 years.’
The statement is due after 14.00 today.
Reader Comments:
Views expressed in submitted comments are that of the author, and not necessarily shared by Railnews.
Richard , Wiltshire
went on this train last September to the highland, on the "cushions" on the way up and bed back down fabulous service, can't fault the crew, just a pity the seat are so hard and spoils the whole experience ( our train was 3 hours late so 13 hours on rock hard seats is wearing). The old Mk3 were more comfortable when travelling by seats.
I accept this was not caused by Serco just mind boggling stupidity from the DfT.
david C Smith, Bletchley
Could sleeper services become considerably more viable if the rolling stock were to find usage through the day as well as overnight? Recliner seats should be relatively easy for night & day "round the clock"utilisation ; it is not so easy to see similarly for the bedroom compartments. Over typical London - Scottish distances, no route is more than appx. 650 miles. in length, covered in around 10 hrs ; could such train "turnround"be sufficient , at around 2 hours ? The "Lowland Sleeper" is 400 miles , and might easily earn additional revenue with a return daytime service. There are various complicating factors, of course, but could this be a way to save these services?
[I am not sure they need to be 'saved', in spite of newspaper speculation this morning. I think the more likely question is 'Will Caledonian Sleeper stay in the private sector or join ScotRail under government control?' Watch this space.--Ed.]