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140-637: Caledonian Sleeper is the collective name for overnight sleeper train services between London and Scotland , in the United Kingdom. It is one of only two currently operating sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom – the other being the Night Riviera , which runs between London and Penzance . A sleeper service has been run along the West Coast Main Line since 24 February 1873. Sleepers were historically run on

280-694: A Family Bedroom for as many as two adults and two children; and an "Accessible Bedroom" (formerly "Special Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion; plus toilets and a shower. The Viewliner cars contain an Accessible Bedroom (formerly "Special Bedroom") for a wheelchair-using traveler and a companion, with an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; two Bedrooms (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; "Roomettes" (formerly "Economy Bedrooms", "Standard Bedrooms", or "Compartments") for one or two travelers, each Roomette containing its own unenclosed toilet and washing facilities; and

420-613: A brake isolated valve was closed preventing control of the train brakes from the locomotive, resulting in the Edinburgh portion running past the platform at Edinburgh Waverley . The incident was investigated by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch with two recommendations. One was addressed to the Rail Safety and Standards Board to change the wording of the railway rule book to make it clear that

560-598: A car named "Chambersburg", between Chambersburg and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania . A couple of years later a second car, the "Carlisle", was introduced into service. In 1857, the Wason Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts – one of the United States' first makers of railway passenger coach equipment – produced America's first specifically designed sleeping car. Canadian railways soon followed with their own sleeping cars: first

700-518: A chance for travel, and it was a well regarded job in the African-American community of the time. The Pullman attendants, regardless of their true name, were traditionally referred to as "George" by the travelers, the name of the company's founder, George Pullman . The Pullman company was the largest employer of African Americans in the United States. Railway porters fought for political recognition and were eventually unionized. Their union,

840-443: A choice of single- or double-occupancy bedrooms. These services operate all week, except Saturdays and usually depart London from Euston and Paddington stations in the evening, arriving at their destinations at approximately 08:00. The Night Riviera service uses British Rail Mk3 sleeper coaches, whereas Caledonian Sleeper uses Mk5 coaches . In Canada, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Via Rail , using

980-484: A connection for London dock traffic. An alternative site at Marble Arch , proposed by Robert Stephenson, was rejected by a provisional committee, and a proposal to end the line at Maiden Lane was rejected by the House of Lords in 1832. A terminus at Camden Town , announced by Stephenson the following year, received royal assent on 6 May, before an extension was approved in 1834, allowing the line to reach Euston Grove where

1120-590: A consequence of the privatisation of British Rail , on 31 March 1997, the service was privatised as a part of the wider ScotRail franchise , initially being operated by National Express . Seated Mark 2 carriages were re-added to the service alongside the Mark 3 sleeping cars, the latter were also refurbished, from January 2000. On 17 October 2004, the ScotRail franchise and thus the Caledonian Sleeper,

1260-536: A contract with GB Railfreight who use Class 92s . However, due to mechanical problems, a Class 90 locomotive was used, initially hired from DB Cargo UK , but later changed to Freightliner . From 2015 until 2019, AC Locomotive Group heritage Class 86s and 87s were used to move empty carriages in London and Glasgow and occasionally operated the overnight passenger services. On the unelectrified routes in Scotland,

1400-695: A deal with the British transport conglomerate Stagecoach that saw the Mark 2 seating carriages retailed beyond this point. This was only a temporary reprieve however, as the Stagecoach carriages were withdrawn after 12 months. On 5 March 1995, responsibility for operation of the Anglo-Scottish services was transferred within British Rail from InterCity West Coast to ScotRail . During the mid-1990s, British Rail had proposed to cease operating

1540-522: A deluxe option with a private bathroom and shower. Night train numbers have been reduced significantly, as the quality of the rail infrastructure is declining and repairs are insufficient, which leads to longer ride times between cities. A journey from Gara de Nord station in Bucharest to Arad (599 km) usually lasts 11 hours 20 minutes when there are no delays. Most night trains in Romania cross

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1680-630: A large concourse separate from the train shed. Originally, no seats were installed there to deter vagrants and crime, but were added after complaints from passengers. Few remnants of the older station remain: two Portland stone entrance lodges, the London and North Western Railway War Memorial and a statue of Robert Stephenson by Carlo Marochetti , from the old ticket hall, stands in the forecourt. A large statue by Eduardo Paolozzi named Piscator dedicated to German theatre director Erwin Piscator

1820-613: A maximum speed of 80 mph (130 km/h), but are authorised to travel at 100 mph (160 km/h) where line speeds permit if the train has been delayed by more than 20 minutes. Trains use the West Coast Main Line between Scotland and London, using London Euston as their terminus. Sunday services are sometimes diverted via the East Coast Main Line when the West Coast route is closed for engineering work. In these cases, they still use London Euston except when

1960-415: A mixture of relatively new cars and refurbished mid-century ones; the latter cars include both private rooms and "open section" accommodations. In the United States, all regularly scheduled sleeping car services are operated by Amtrak . Amtrak offers sleeping cars on most of its overnight trains, using modern cars of the private-room type exclusively. Today, Amtrak operates two main types of sleeping car:

2100-777: A modest degree of innovation in the bogie suspension systems and the passenger compartment design. Some other post-Soviet nations rely more heavily on the rolling stock fleet inherited from the Union, to a large extent based on vintage life-prolonged cars assembled in East Germany or Soviet Latvia back in the 1980s. Modern, air-conditioned sleeping cars and couchette cars are part of Croatian Railways rolling stock. Croatian sleeping coaches include single, double or 4-bed compartments with washbasin and many additional hygienic accessories. Passengers also have catering services at their disposal and are given complimentary breakfast, depending on

2240-448: A new style of club car. Accordingly, the existing Mark 2 and Mark 3 coaching stock was to be replaced, originally set to occur by 2018. On 31 March 2015, Serco Caledonian Sleepers took over the operation of the service. In late December 2015, staff called for a two-day strike because of health and safety concerns with the trains then in use and Serco's alleged failure to address them appropriately. In September 2019, another three-day strike

2380-577: A practice used in Italy and Austria, adopted by the CFR in the early 2010s, thus enabling it to increase the capacity on sleeping trains. The sleeping cars of the CFR in the 1990s consisted of Bautzen and Görlitz-made sleeping cars, standard in the Eastern Bloc. They were replaced by Grivița-made WLABmee 71-70 and Hansa-made WLABmee 71–31, bought second-hand from Deutsche Bahn. The most recent sleeping cars are

2520-663: A private shower cubicle. In addition, each Superliner sleeping car has two special lower-level accommodations, each taking up the full width of the car: the Accessible Bedroom, at the restroom/shower end of the car (below the Deluxe Bedrooms), is a fully wheelchair-accessible accommodation for two, with a roll-in cubicle for the toilet and shower; the Family Bedroom, at the Economy Bedroom end of

2660-508: A revenue earning trip on 24 February 1873 attached to a train at Glasgow for King's Cross via the East Coast Main Line . On 1 October 1873, the rival Caledonian Railway introduced a London and North Western Railway sleeping car on mail trains three days per week between Glasgow Buchanan Street and London Euston via the West Coast Main Line . The service ran from Glasgow on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and from London on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. An extra charge of ten shillings

2800-584: A service from Bristol Temple Meads to Glasgow and Edinburgh via the West Coast route. However, sleeper services declined in number during the latter half of the 20th century. During November 1987, it was announced that the last of the sleeper services running on the East Coast routes was to be withdrawn in May 1988. At one point, InterCity was planning to remove all seating accommodation on its remaining sleeper services from May 1992. However, it instead concluded

2940-462: A shower room at the end of the car. China Railway operates an extensive network of conventional sleeper trains throughout the country, covering all provincial capitals and many major cities. The Chinese "hard" sleeping car in use today is very basic, consisting of 6 fixed bunk beds per compartment, which can be converted into seats in peak season. The middle level bunk bed will be folded and top level bunk bed will still be sold as sleeper, while

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3080-578: A signal and communications building and various staff offices. The parcel deck was reinforced using 5,500 tons of structural steelwork. Signalling on the routes leading out of the station was reworked along with the electrification of the lines, including the British Rail Automatic Warning System . Fifteen platforms had been completed by 1966, and the electric service began on 3 January. An automated parcel depot above platforms 3 to 18 opened on 7 August 1966. The station

3220-453: A single car to increase the number of sleepers over a conventional sleeping car of private rooms. A Roomette , in the historically correct sense of the word, is a private room for a single passenger, containing a single seat, a folding bed, a toilet ( not in a private cubicle of its own), and a washbasin. When a traditional Roomette is in night mode, the bed blocks access to the toilet. Like open sections, Roomettes are placed on both sides of

3360-414: A small closet, and no in-room washbasin or toilet, on both sides of both the upper and lower levels of the car. Effectively, they are open sections with walls, a door, and a built-in access ladder for the upper berth (which doubles as a nightstand for the lower berth passenger). Superliner Deluxe Bedrooms are essentially the same as historic Compartments and Double Bedrooms, with the toilet cubicle doubling as

3500-522: A train factory in Minsk , or in Uzbekistan , which has established a 600 km Afrosiyob high-speed rail service between all of its major cities. In the larger Soviet Union successor states like Kazakhstan , Russia , and Ukraine , on the other hand, night trains are to this day a prime method of railway travel, as a shift towards faster daytime trains with seating rather than sleeping arrangements

3640-483: A vampiric loathing of sunlight". Michael Palin , explorer and travel writer, in his contribution to Great Railway Journeys titled "Confessions of a Trainspotter" in 1980, likened it to "a great bath, full of smooth, slippery surfaces where people can be sloshed about efficiently". Journalist Barney Ronay described the station as "easily, easily the worst main station in Western Europe" and that using it

3780-662: A year during the end of World War II the United States government banned sleeping cars for runs of less than 450 miles (720 km) in order to make sleepers available for transporting troops returning to the US from Europe , many being deployed in the Pacific Theater . The development of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and the expansion of jet airline travel in the same decade negatively affected train travel. One unanticipated consequence of

3920-400: Is "like being taken away to be machine gunned in the woods by various mobile phone and soft drinks companies". Access to parts of the station is difficult for people with physical disability . The introduction of lifts in 2010 made the taxi rank and underground station accessible from the concourse, though some customers found them unreliable and frequently broken down. Wayfindr technology

4060-699: Is a low-cost night train between Madrid and Barcelona served by berth carriages, with compartments for up to 6 people. While most of Turkey's overnight trains operate within Anatolia , in Asia , TCDD Taşımacılık operates one train from Istanbul to Sofia and Bucharest . The train runs through Turkey as a single train and later splits in Bulgaria. Formerly, overnight trains departed Istanbul to several European destinations such as Thessaloniki , Belgrade , Budapest , Warsaw and Kyiv but were all discontinued in

4200-533: Is also one of many train operators impacted by the 2022–2024 United Kingdom railway strikes , which are the first national rail strikes in the UK for three decades. Its workers are amongst those are participating in industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions. Caledonian Sleeper trains have been cancelled on the days of the strikes. In October 2022, the Scottish Government announced

4340-721: Is hampered by insufficient investments in the railway infrastructure restricting the speed, lack of train sets, and most importantly, the distances involved. While certain numbers of high-speed trains have been acquired by the national railways of these countries (such as Talgo 250 in Kazakhstan, Siemens Sapsan in Russia, or Hyundai Rotem HRCS in Ukraine), all of them continue to operate a large number of sleeper trains both on domestic and international routes. The need to compete against aviation with its soaring passenger numbers forces

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4480-467: Is nearby. King's Cross and St Pancras railway stations are about 1 ⁄ 2 mile (800 metres) east along Euston Road . Euston, the first inter-city railway terminal in London, was planned by George and Robert Stephenson . It was designed by Philip Hardwick and built by William Cubitt , with a distinctive arch over the station entrance. The station opened as the terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR) on 20 July 1837. Euston

4620-516: Is not part of these plans. Two hotels on Cardington Street adjacent to the west of the station were also demolished. In August 2019, the Department for Transport (DfT) ordered an independent review of the project, chaired by the British civil engineer Douglas Oakervee . The Oakervee Review was published by the Department for Transport the following February, alongside a statement from

4760-475: Is one of the nastiest concrete boxes in London: devoid of any decorative merit; seemingly concocted to induce maximum angst among passengers; and a blight on surrounding streets. The design should never have left the drawing-board – if, indeed, it was ever on a drawing-board. It gives the impression of having been scribbled on the back of a soiled paper bag by a thuggish android with a grudge against humanity and

4900-410: Is sited at the front of the courtyard, which as of 2016 was reported to be deteriorating. Other pieces of public art, including low stone benches by Paul de Monchaux around the courtyard, were commissioned by Network Rail in 1990. The station has catering units and shops, a large ticket hall and an enclosed car park with over 200 spaces. The lack of daylight on the platforms compares unfavourably with

5040-912: The 20th Century Limited on the New York Central Railroad , the Broadway Limited on the Pennsylvania Railroad , the Panama Limited on the Illinois Central Railroad , and the Super Chief on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway . Pullman cars were normally a dark "Pullman green", although some were painted in the host railroad's colors. The cars carried individual names, but usually did not carry visible numbers. In

5180-466: The Chicago Defender , gained a national circulation in this way. Porters also used to re-sell phonograph records bought in the great metropolitan centres, greatly adding to the distribution of jazz and blues and the popularity of the artists. From the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries, the most common and more economical type of sleeping car accommodation on North American trains was

5320-659: The Simplon-Orient Express , Nord Express , Train Bleu , Golden Arrow , and the Transsiberien (on the Trans-Siberian railway ). Today it once again specializes in sleeping cars, along with onboard railroad catering. In modern Europe, a number of sleeping car services continue to operate, though they face strong competition from high-speed day trains and budget airlines, sometimes leading to

5460-468: The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters (established, 1925), became an important source of strength for the burgeoning Civil Rights Movement in the early 20th century, notably under the leadership of A. Philip Randolph . Because they moved about the country, Pullman porters also became an important means of communication for news and cultural information of all kinds. The African-American newspaper ,

5600-802: The Caledonian Sleeper . London Northwestern Railway provide commuter and regional services to the West Midlands, whilst the Lioness line of the London Overground provides local suburban services in the London area via the Watford DC Line which runs parallel to the West Coast Main Line as far as Watford Junction . Euston tube station is connected to the main concourse and Euston Square tube station

5740-686: The Fort William portion of the service, however, the Highland Regional Council successfully sought a stay pending a formal consultation, after the Scottish Court of Session ruled that the correct service closure process had not been followed. Eventually, British Rail agreed to retain the Fort William portion, albeit with a reduction four sleeping carriages to only one. During 1995, the associated motorail service

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5880-532: The Grand Trunk in 1858, then the Great Western . The Great Western's sleeping cars were manufactured in-house, with the first three built in 1858, and the railway operating six by 1863. The man who ultimately made the sleeping car business profitable in the United States was George Pullman , who began by building a luxurious sleeping car (named Pioneer ) in 1865. The Pullman Company , founded as

6020-668: The London Inner Ring Road , between Cardington Street and Eversholt Street in the London Borough of Camden . It is one of 20 stations managed by Network Rail . As of the 2022-23 estimates of station usage, it is the tenth-busiest station in Britain It is the eighth-busiest terminus in London by entries and exits. Euston bus station is in front of the main entrance. Euston was the first inter-city railway station in London. It opened on 20 July 1837 as

6160-741: The Manchester & Birmingham Railway and the Grand Junction Railway in 1846 to form the LNWR. The company headquarters were established at Euston requiring a block of offices to be built between the Arch and the platforms. The station's facilities were expanded with the opening of the Great Hall on 27 May 1849 replacing the original sheds. The Great Hall was designed by Hardwick's son Philip Charles Hardwick in classical style. It

6300-694: The Prime Minister Boris Johnson confirming that HS2 would go ahead in full, with reservations. The review said the rebuild was "not satisfactory" and called the management "muddled" and recommended a change of governance. In Summer 2020, the government asked Network Rail's chairman, Sir Peter Hendy , to lead an oversight board; in October 2020, the Architects' Journal reported that more than £100m had already been spent on engineering and architectural design fees. In October 2023,

6440-687: The West Coast Main Line , the UK's busiest inter-city railway. Euston is the tenth-busiest station in Britain and the country's busiest inter-city passenger terminal, being the gateway from London to the West Midlands , North West England , North Wales and Scotland . Intercity express passenger services to the major cities of Birmingham , Manchester , Liverpool , Glasgow and Edinburgh , and through services to Holyhead for connecting ferries to Dublin are operated by Avanti West Coast . Overnight sleeper services to Scotland are provided by

6580-492: The electrification of the West Coast Main Line in 1959. Because of the restricted layout of track and tunnels at the northern end, enlargement only could be accomplished by expanding southwards over the area occupied by the Great Hall and the Arch. Permission to demolish the Arch and Great Hall was sought from London County Council and it was granted on condition that that the Arch would be restored and re-sited. BR estimated it would cost at least £190,000 (now £6,700,000) and

6720-415: The "open section". Open-section accommodations consist of pairs of seats, one seat facing forward and the other backward, situated on either side of a center aisle. The seat pairs can be converted into the combination of an upper and a lower " berth ", each berth consisting of a bed screened from the aisle by a curtain. A famous example of open sections can be seen in the movie Some Like It Hot (1959). In

6860-764: The 1920s, the Pullman Company went through a series of restructuring steps, which in the end resulted in a parent company, Pullman Incorporated, controlling the Pullman Company (which owned and operated sleeping cars) and the Pullman-Standard Car Manufacturing Company. Due to an antitrust verdict in 1947, a consortium of railroads bought the Pullman Company from Pullman Incorporated, and subsequently railroads owned and operated Pullman-made sleeping cars themselves. Pullman-Standard continued manufacturing sleeping cars and other passenger and freight railroad cars until 1980. For nearly

7000-568: The 1930s Euston was again congested and the LMS considered rebuilding it. In 1931 it was reported that a site for a new station was being sought, the most likely option was behind the existing station in the direction of Camden Town. The LMS announced in 1935 that the station (including the hotel and offices) would be rebuilt using a government loan guarantee. In 1937 it appointed the architect Percy Thomas to produce designs. He proposed an American-inspired station that would involve removing or resiting

7140-589: The 1990s and 2000s. A privately operated overnight train, the Optima Express , runs between Edirne and Villach in Austria with an average trip time of 35 hours. In the United Kingdom, a network of trains with sleeping cars operates daily between London and Scotland ( Caledonian Sleeper ), and between London and the West Country as far as Cornwall ( Night Riviera ). These services offer

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7280-590: The Blitz in 1940. Part of the Great Hall's roof was destroyed, and a bomb landed between platforms 2 and 3, destroying offices and part of the hotel. Passengers considered Euston to be squalid and covered in soot and it was restored and redecorated in 1953, when an enquiry kiosk in the middle of the Great Hall was removed. Ticket machines were modernised. By this time the Arch was surrounded by property development and kiosks and in need of restoration. British Railways announced that Euston would be rebuilt to accommodate

7420-888: The British Rail-era carriages. These are hauled by a combination of Class 92 electric locomotives (on electrified sections only) and rebuilt Class 73/9s electro-diesel locomotives ; prior traction withdrawn in 2019 included Class 67 , Class 87 and Class 90 locomotives. Two services depart London Euston each night from Sunday to Friday and travel via the West Coast Main Line to Scotland. The earlier departure divides at Edinburgh into portions for Aberdeen , Fort William and Inverness . The later departure serves Edinburgh and Glasgow , splitting at Carstairs . Five London-bound portions depart from these destinations each night, combining into two trains at Edinburgh and Carstairs. Serco's contract concluded early in June 2023, and

7560-628: The Great Hall and a week later Sir Charles Wheeler led a deputation to speak with the Prime Minister Harold Macmillan . Macmillan replied that as well as the cost, there was nowhere large enough to relocate the Arch in keeping with its surroundings. Demolition began on 6 November and was completed within four months. The station was rebuilt by Taylor Woodrow Construction to a design by London Midland Region architects of British Railways, William Robert Headley and Ray Moorcroft , in consultation with Richard Seifert & Partners . Redevelopment began in summer 1962 and progressed from east to west,

7700-464: The Great Hall was demolished and an 11,000-square-foot (1,000 m ) temporary building housed ticket offices and essential facilities. Euston worked to 80% capacity during the works with at least 11 platforms in operation at any time. Services were diverted elsewhere where practical and the station remained operational throughout the works. The first phase of construction involved building 18 platforms with two track bays to handle parcels above them,

7840-414: The Prague - Košice line. Another of the more substantial examples of current European sleeping-car service is the Train Bleu , an all-sleeping-car train. It leaves Paris from the Gare d'Austerlitz station in mid-evening and arrives in Nice at about 8 in the morning, providing both first-class rooms and couchette accommodation. The train's principal popularity is with older travelers; it has not won

7980-451: The Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that construction of the Euston terminus and approach tunnel would not be government funded and that it could only go ahead with private sector investment. Transport for London commissioner Andy Lord was sceptical that the private sector would pay for the link to Old Oak Common. The demolition of the original buildings in 1962 was described by the Royal Institute of British Architects as "one of

8120-410: The Pullman Palace Car Company in 1867, owned and operated most sleeping cars in the United States until the mid-20th century, attaching them to passenger trains run by the various railroads; there were also some sleeping cars that were operated by Pullman but owned by the railroad running a given train. During the peak years of American passenger railroading, several all-Pullman trains existed, including

8260-420: The Regent's Canal on a gradient of more than 1 in 68. Because steam trains at the time could not climb such an ascent, they were cable-hauled on the down line towards Camden until 1844, after which bank engines were used. The L&BR's act of Parliament prohibited the use of locomotives in the Euston area, following concerns of residents about noise and smoke from locomotives toiling up the incline. The station

8400-414: The ScotRail franchise, including the Caledonian Sleeper service, was transferred to FirstGroup . In spite of this transfer, both the rolling stock and locomotive contracts remained fundamentally unchanged, except for the carriages and three of EWS's Class 90 locomotives being repainted in FirstGroup's corporate blue, pink and white livery. During 2012, the Scottish Government announced that as part of

8540-408: The Spanish rail network operator Renfe . It was operated by Renfe and CP where it operated International Sud-Express and Lusitanea services between Spain and Portugal, and by its subsidiary Elipsos (a joint venture between Renfe and French SNCF with a 50% share each) when operating in France , Switzerland and Italy . Trenhotel services were discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic , this

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8680-485: The WLABmee 70-91 made by Astra Arad, which is the same type used by Astra Rail (although the liveries differ), starting from 2014, 2 of the WLABmee 71-70 cars were refurbished, but no other examples have received the same treatment. Other examples that have been withdrawn since were second-hand examples of the TEN MU and T2S types. In Spain, Trenhotel was a long-distance, overnight train service which used Talgo tilting trains technology and sleeping cars developed by

8820-399: The arch, and included office frontages along Euston Road and a helicopter pad on the roof. Redevelopment began on 12 July 1938, when 100,000 long tons (101,605 tonnes) of limestone was extracted for the building and new flats were constructed to rehouse people displaced by the works. The project was shelved indefinitely because of World War II . The station was damaged several times during

8960-439: The area. The number of platforms would increase from 18 to 21. In 2008, it was reported that the Arch could be rebuilt. In September 2011, the demolition plans were cancelled, and Aedas was appointed to give the station a makeover. In July 2014 a statue of navigator and cartographer Matthew Flinders , who circumnavigated the globe and charted Australia, was unveiled at Euston; his grave was rumoured to lie under platform 15 at

9100-428: The bi-level Superliner sleeping cars, built from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, and the single-level Viewliner sleeping cars, built in the mid-1990s. Superliners are used on most long-distance routes from Chicago westward, while Viewliners are used on most routes east of Chicago due to tunnel clearance issues in and around New York City and Baltimore . In the most common Superliner sleeping car configuration,

9240-442: The brake continuity test should be undertaken after all coupling-related activities have been completed. The second was addressed to Caledonian Sleeper to review the vulnerability of the isolating cocks on its rolling stock, to prevent inadvertent operation by persons or objects. Sleeping car The first such cars saw sporadic use on American and English railways in the 1830s; they could be configured for coach seating during

9380-476: The cancellation or consolidation of services. In some cases, trains are split and recombined in the dead of night, making it possible to offer several connections with a relatively small number of trains. Generally, the trains consist of sleeping cars with private compartments, couchette cars, and sometimes cars with normal seating. In Eastern Europe, night trains are still widely used. In Western Europe, they have been in decline for decades. However, in December 2020

9520-564: The car, accommodates two adults and up to three small children, without private toilet or shower facilities. When the Viewliner sleeping cars were built, the accommodations were patterned after the Superliner accommodations, except that the Economy Bedrooms (or "Viewliner Roomettes") include Roomette-style washbasins and toilets, as well as windows for the upper berths. In Europe , the Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (French for "International Sleeping Car Company") first focused on sleeping cars, but later operated whole trains, including

9660-577: The car, with a corridor down the center. Duplex Roomettes, a Pullman-produced precursor to the Slumbercoach, are staggered vertically, with every second accommodation raised a few feet above the car's floor level, in order to make slightly more efficient use of the space. Single-passenger Slumbercoach accommodations are a particularly spartan form of roomette; Slumbercoaches also included a few two-passenger units. Compartments and Double Bedrooms are private rooms for two passengers, with upper and lower berths, washbasins, and private toilets, placed on one side of

9800-443: The car, with the corridor running down the other side (thus allowing the accommodation to be slightly over two thirds the width of the car). Frequently, these accommodations have movable partitions allowing adjacent accommodations to be combined into a suite. The drawing room was a relatively rare and expensive option for travelers. It could comfortably accommodate three people, again with a washbasin and private toilet on one side of

9940-455: The car. Even rarer are larger rooms accommodating four or more. Generally the needs of large parties were better served with multiple rooms, with or without the ability to combine them into a suite. Amtrak's Superliner Economy Bedrooms (now called Superliner Roomettes, although they are structurally closer to open sections) accommodate two passengers in facing seats that fold out into a lower berth, with an upper berth that folds down from above,

10080-620: The classically trained architect Philip Hardwick , had a 200-foot-long (61 m) trainshed by structural engineer Charles Fox . It had two 420-foot-long (130 m) platforms, one each for departures and arrival. The main entrance portico, the Euston Arch , also by Hardwick, symbolised the arrival of a major new transport system and was "the gateway to the north". It was 72 feet (22 m) high, supported on four 44 ft 2 in (13.46 m) by 8 ft 6 in (2.59 m) hollow Doric propylaeum columns of Bramley Fall stone ,

10220-495: The co-owner of Le Monde newspaper. However, the project later collapsed due in part to a lack of funding. In 2021 Europe saw a increase in the provision of sleeper trains which is thought to be the result of increasing awareness of the environmental effects of long-distance travel. In 2022 the design and engineering faculties of three European universities – Aalto , KTH and TalTech – discussed plans to reshape sleeping cars for flow production. The ADLNE project aims to create

10360-513: The coaches used by British Rail; Mark 3 sleeping coaches and Mark 2 seated carriages, some of which were fitted out as lounge cars where refreshments could be obtained. During 2019, these were replaced by Mark 5 carriages; the new rolling stock was first operated on the Lowland services from April, and subsequently on the Highland services from October. Heavy maintenance on the carriage stock

10500-423: The collapse of Railtrack. In 2005 Network Rail was reported to have long-term aspirations to redevelop the station, removing the 1960s buildings and providing more commercial space by using the " air rights " above the platforms. In 2007, British Land announced that it had won the tender to demolish and rebuild the station, spending some £250 million of its overall redevelopment budget of £1 billion for

10640-558: The contract. Starting in January 2000, seated carriages were added to the sleeping cars; these were 11 former Virgin Trains Mark 2 carriages that had been refurbished at Wolverton Works , which included the installation of first class-style reclining seats throughout. In parallel with this work, the sleeping cars were also refurbished, during which time they were repainted with ScotRail's purple and blue livery. On 17 October 2004,

10780-588: The country, covering distances of 400 to 750 km, usually to end at certain international destinations or in large cities at opposite ends of the country. The overwhelming majority of night trains with sleeping coaches are owned and operated by CFR Călători (Romanian Railways). Recently, private operators such as Astra Rail Carpatica , the newly founded private operator of Astra Vagoane Arad , has started offering sleeping train services, using own-made sleeping cars and Servtrans locomotives. CFR today prefers operating more couchettes than sleeping cars in its trains,

10920-518: The day and "privacyless" double- or triple-level bunk beds at night. In 2021 the French start-up company, Midnight Trains , announced plans to set up a network of sleeper trains, centered in Paris . Planned destinations include Edinburgh , Copenhagen , Berlin , Venice , Rome , Barcelona , Madrid , and Porto , with some intermediate stops. The plans were backed by telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel ,

11060-548: The day. Possibly the earliest example of a sleeping car (or bed carriage , as it was then called) was on the London & Birmingham and Grand Junction Railways between London and Lancashire , England. The bed carriage was first made available to first-class passengers in 1838. In the spring of 1839, the Cumberland Valley Railroad pioneered sleeping car service in the United States with

11200-520: The destination. Some of the Nightjet train units have a maximum speed of 230 km/h. In the Soviet Union overnight train travel formed the most common and accessible mode of long-distance travel, distances between the capital of Moscow and many outlying cities being ideal for overnight trips that depart in late evening and arrive at their destinations in the morning. Sleeping cars with berths are

11340-474: The development of air travel, overnight bus services and high-speed rail . As of May 2016, sleeper car trains of regular service in Japan are as follows: Euston railway station Euston railway station ( / ˈ j uː s t ən / YOO -stən ; or London Euston ) is a major central London railway terminus managed by Network Rail in the London Borough of Camden . It is the southern terminus of

11480-755: The diesel locomotives are detached from each portion and a Class 92 is attached to then take the full-length, 16-car train to London. The train continues to London Euston with intermediate stops at Preston and Crewe for alighting passengers only (southbound trains do not call at Watford Junction), arriving in London the following morning. The Inverness portion of the train consists of six sleeper coaches, one seated carriage and one "club car" (lounge car), all running through to/from London. The Aberdeen set consists of between two and four sleeper coaches (depending on demand) plus one seated carriage and one lounge car, all running throughout. The Fort William set consists only of two to four sleeper coaches between London and Edinburgh;

11620-531: The diversion of some services to Old Oak Common (for Crossrail ). This would include eight commuter trains per hour originating/terminating between Tring and Milton Keynes Central inclusive. In 2016, the Mayor Sadiq Khan endorsed the plans and suggested that all services should terminate at Old Oak Common while a more appropriate solution is found for Euston. The current scheme does not provide any direct access between High Speed 2 at Euston and

11760-472: The existing High Speed 1 at St Pancras. In 2015, plans were announced to link the two stations via a travelator service. Platforms 17 and 18 closed in May and June 2019 for High Speed 2 preparation work. The Euston Downside Carriage Maintenance Depot was demolished in 2018 in preparation for the start of tunnelling. The two office towers in front of the station were demolished between January 2019 and December 2020. The third tower at 1 Eversholt Street

11900-695: The fastest sleeper trains in the world. A new variant of CRH2E consists of double level bunk capsules in lieu of sleeping berths. These trains have been dubbed "moving hotels". A major portion of passenger cars in India are sleeper/couchette cars. With railways as one of the primary mode of passenger transport, sleeper cars vary from economical to First Class AC (air conditioned). Most Indian trains come in combinations of first class A/C and non-A/C private sleeper cars with doors, and A/C 3-tier or 2-tier couchette arrangements. Japan used to have many sleeper trains, but most of these routes have been removed because of

12040-443: The franchise run by Serco would be terminated. The service was taken over by Scottish Rail Holdings on 25 June 2023. Two trains are operated on six days each week (not Saturday night/Sunday morning). The Highland Sleeper has three portions that serve routes to Aberdeen , Inverness and Fort William . The Lowland Sleeper has two portions serving routes to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central . The trains normally operate at

12180-559: The glazed trainshed roofs of traditional Victorian railway stations, but the use of the space above as a parcels depot released the maximum space at ground level for platforms and passenger facilities. Since 1996, proposals have been formulated to reconstruct the Arch as part of the redevelopment of the station, and its use as the terminus of the High Speed 2 line. Ownership of the station transferred from British Rail to Railtrack in 1994, passing to Network Rail in 2002 following

12320-521: The greatest acts of Post-War architectural vandalism in Britain" and was approved directly by Harold Macmillan . The attempts made to preserve the earlier building, championed by Sir John Betjeman , led to the formation of the Victorian Society and heralded the modern conservation movement. This movement saved the nearby high Gothic St Pancras station when threatened with demolition in 1966, ultimately leading to its renovation in 2007 as

12460-406: The journey is formed of 16 carriages and is hauled by an electric Class 92 locomotive. At Edinburgh Waverley, the train is divided into three portions; these continue north of Edinburgh to Fort William , Aberdeen and Inverness as separate services. The electric locomotive is uncoupled and replaced by a Class 73/9 diesel locomotive for each of the three northbound sets. The front portion of

12600-514: The largest ever built. It was completed in May 1838 and cost £35,000 (now £3,981,000). The old station building was probably the first one in the world with all- wrought iron roof trusses . The first railway hotels in London were built at Euston. Two hotels designed by Hardwick opened in 1839 on either side of the Arch; the Victoria on the west had basic facilities while the Euston on the east

12740-469: The lower bed will be occupied by three passengers. Chinese trains also offer "soft" or deluxe sleeping cars with four or two beds per room. China is the only country to operate high-speed sleeper trains. Sleeper services are operated using high-speed CRH1E , CRH2E and CRH5E trains outfitted with sleeping berths ( couchette ). Services run between Beijing - Shanghai and Beijing - Guangzhou at speeds of up to 250 km/h (160 mph), one of

12880-712: The main cities in Northern Italy and the South , including Sicily using train ferry. Sleeping trains in Poland are run by PKP Intercity . Sleeper cars are used on long-distance domestic trains such as the Przemyślanin as well as international trains. Polish night trains also contain standard first and second class seated cars as well as couchette cars . The sleeper cars offer various types of accommodations, including 4-bed, 3-bed, 2-bed and single accommodations, as well as

13020-501: The mid-to-late 20th century, an increasing variety of private rooms was offered. Most of these rooms provided significantly more space than open-section accommodations could offer. Open-sections were increasingly phased out in the 1950s, in favor of roomettes. Some of them, such as the rooms of the " Slumbercoach " cars manufactured by the Budd Company and first put into service in 1956, were triumphs of miniaturization. These allowed

13160-400: The modern complex; Drummond Street now terminates at the side of the station but then ran across its front. A short road, Euston Grove, ran from Euston Square towards the arch. A bay platform (later platform 7) for local services to Kensington (Addison Road) opened in 1863. Two new platforms (1 and 2) were added in 1873 along with an entrance for cabs from Seymour Street. At the same time,

13300-468: The notice and implemented measures to better manage passenger traffic flows and overcrowding. In October 2024, London TravelWatch warned that passengers at Euston are being put in danger when the station becomes severely overcrowded during periods of disruption to services. Transport Secretary Louise Haigh subsequently asked Network Rail to declutter the station concourse and improve how it handles train announcements. Network Rail reacted by switching off

13440-698: The only reasonable solution for railway trips lasting several days (e.g., trains running along the Trans-Siberian Railway , or direct trains from Moscow or Saint Petersburg to the capitals of the Central Asian Soviet Republics). Since then, the railroads in the smaller ex-Soviet nations have largely transitioned to daytime intercity trains, such as in Belarus , where the process is based on government-funded purchases of rolling stock supplied by Stadler , which operates

13580-569: The original station was built by William Cubitt . Initial services were three trains to and from Boxmoor with journeys taking just over an hour. On 9 April 1838, they were extended to a temporary halt at Denbigh Hall near Bletchley where a coach service was provided to Rugby . The line to Curzon Street station in Birmingham opened on 17 September 1838, the journey of 112 miles (180 km) took around 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 hours. The incline from Camden Town to Euston involved crossing

13720-617: The railcar from modules that are themselves composed of interchangeable segments, compartments and fittings, allowing bespoke designs at low cost. ÖBB 's modern Nightjet services operate in Germany , Austria , Italy , Switzerland , France , Netherlands and Belgium , and Nightjet's partners will also take passengers to Slovakia , Croatia , Slovenia , Poland , Hungary and the Czech Republic . The services usually leave at around 20:00 hours and arrive at around 09:00 hours at

13860-620: The railroads to maintain modest ticket prices, starting at below 10 Euros for third-class tickets in Ukraine, if higher in the richer ex-Soviet nations. Rolling stock age and quality also varies by country. In countries like Kazakhstan and Russia, locally-produced cars are purchased regularly to update the fleet, with newly introduced comforts such as showers, dry toilets, or conditioning units in passenger compartments becoming an increasingly common sight; Russian Railroads have also introduced double-deck sleeper cars; yet comfort levels still suffer from

14000-707: The rebuilding was scrapped after a government White Paper was released in 1963 that restricted the rate of commercial office development in London. In 1966, a " Whites only " recruitment policy for guards at the station was dropped after the case of Asquith Xavier , a migrant from Dominica , who had been refused promotion on those grounds, was raised in Parliament and taken up by the Secretary of State for Transport, Barbara Castle . A second development phase by Richard Seifert & Partners began in 1979, adding 405,000 square feet (37,600 m ) of office space along

14140-427: The reletting of the ScotRail franchise from April 2015, the Caledonian Sleeper would be operated by a separate franchise. In June 2013, Transport Scotland announced Arriva , FirstGroup and Serco had been shortlisted to bid for the new franchise. During May 2014, the franchise was awarded to Serco ; at the time, the company pledged to invest £100   million in new trains that would include 'en suite' rooms and

14280-484: The remains were reinterred at St Pancras Cemetery . Two more platforms (4 and 5) opened in 1891. Four departure platforms (now platforms 12–15), bringing the total to 15, and a booking office on Drummond Street opened on 1 July 1892. The line between Euston and Camden was doubled between 1901 and 1906. A new booking hall opened in 1914 on part of the cab yard. The Great Hall was redecorated and refurbished between 1915 and 1916 and again in 1927. The station's ownership

14420-525: The revamped station still attracts criticism over its architecture. Euston is to be the London terminus for the planned High Speed 2 railway and the station is being redeveloped to accommodate it. The station is named after Euston Hall in Suffolk, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Grafton , the main landowners in the area during the mid-19th century. It is set back from Euston Square and Euston Road on

14560-402: The rise of Pullman cars in the US in the 19th and early 20th centuries was their effect on civil rights and African-American culture. Each Pullman car was staffed by a uniformed porter . The majority of Pullman porters were African Americans. While still a menial job in many respects, Pullman offered better pay and security than most jobs open to African Americans at the time, in addition to

14700-482: The rival East Coast Main Line as well; however, all remaining sleeper services that ran on the east coast routes were withdrawn in May 1988. While InterCity continued to operate what would later become known as the Caledonian Sleeper , it decided to remove all seating accommodation on its remaining sleeper services during the mid-1990s. The Anglo-Scottish sleeper services were transferred to ScotRail on 5 March 1995; as

14840-429: The same degree of popularity with younger travelers. Recently, the upper-class coaches (wagons lits) have been sold to foreign railroad companies, so that only couchette cars (1st and 2nd class) and seating coaches remain. The Train Bleu is part of the French night service network called Intercités de Nuit . In Italy, Ferrovie dello Stato operates an extensive network of trains with sleeping cars, especially between

14980-593: The seat of the duke of Grafton , who owned the locality. The station and railway have been owned by the L&;BR (1837–1846), the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) (1846–1923), the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) (1923–1948), British Railways (1948–1994), Railtrack (1994–2002) and Network Rail (2002–present). The plan was to construct a station near the Regent's Canal in Islington to provide

15120-729: The seated and lounge carriages are attached/detached at Edinburgh Waverley for the Edinburgh–Fort William leg of the journey. This means that any seated passengers travelling between England and stations on the Fort William route are required to use the seated carriages intended for Inverness or Aberdeen, and change carriages at Edinburgh Waverley. Going northbound, the Lowland Sleeper departs London Euston at 23:50 (23:30 on Sundays), calling at Watford Junction to pick up passengers. The train then continues with no intermediate calls until Carlisle before reaching Carstairs . Here

15260-562: The service was taken into public ownership by Transport Scotland . It is operated on its behalf by Scottish Rail Holdings . In February 1873, the North British Railway revealed the first sleeping car in Britain. It had been built by the Ashbury Carriage Company and was displayed at Glasgow, Edinburgh and London King's Cross . It became the first sleeping carriage used on British railways when it made

15400-440: The south and west to create new sufficiently long platforms. These plans involved a complete reconstruction, involving the demolition of 220 Camden Council flats, with half the station providing conventional train services and the new half high-speed trains. The Command Paper suggested rebuilding the Arch, and included an artist's impression. The station is to have seven new platforms dropped from an original planned eight, taking

15540-447: The southbound direction, two separate services depart both Glasgow Central (calling at Motherwell) and Edinburgh Waverley, and combine into one at Carstairs. The train then calls at Carlisle, before running non-stop through to Watford Junction (served for alighting passengers only) and terminating at London Euston the next morning. Motherwell, Carstairs and Carlisle are all served to pick up passengers only. The ScotRail franchise inherited

15680-495: The state railways of Germany , Austria , France and Switzerland announced a 500 million euro investment in a network of cross-border night trains linking 13 major European cities, in the largest extension of Europe's night network in many years. An example of a more basic type of sleeping car is the European couchette car , which is divided into compartments for four or six people, with bench-configuration seating during

15820-432: The station frontage in the form of three low-rise towers overlooking Melton Street and Eversholt Street. The offices were occupied by British Rail , then by Railtrack, and by Network Rail which has now vacated all but a small portion of one of the towers. The offices are in a functional style; the main facing material is polished dark stone, complemented by white tiles, exposed concrete and plain glazing. The station has

15960-720: The station itself is closed, or there is no possible routing into the station during engineering works, in which case they use nearby London King's Cross instead. Lounges for Caledonian Sleeper customers are available at Dundee , Fort William , Inverness , Leuchars , Perth and Stirling stations, and passengers may also use lounges shared with other operators at Aberdeen , Edinburgh Waverley , Glasgow Central and London Euston . The northbound Highland Sleeper leaves London Euston at 21:15 (20:59 on Sundays), calling at Watford Junction , Crewe and Preston to pick up passengers, and arrives at Edinburgh Waverley approximately six-and-a-half hours after leaving London. This leg of

16100-422: The station roof was raised by 6 feet (1.8 m) to accommodate smoke from the engines. The continued growth of long-distance railway traffic led to major expansion along the station's west side starting in 1887. It involved rerouting Cardington Street over part of the burial ground (later St James's Gardens) of St James's Church, Piccadilly , which was located some way from the church. To avoid public outcry,

16240-622: The station, but had been relocated during the original station construction and in 2019 was found behind the station during excavation work for the HS2 line. In March 2010 the Secretary of State for Transport , Andrew Adonis announced that Euston was the preferred southern terminus of the planned High Speed 2 line, which would connect to a newly built station near Curzon Street and Fazeley Street in Birmingham. This would require expansion to

16380-540: The terminus of HS1 to the Continent. Euston's 1960s style of architecture has been described as "a dingy, grey, horizontal nothingness" and a reflection of "the tawdry glamour of its time", entirely lacking in "the sense of occasion, of adventure, that the great Victorian termini gave to the traveller". Writing in The Times , Richard Morrison stated that "even by the bleak standards of Sixties architecture, Euston

16520-516: The terminus of the London and Birmingham Railway (L&BR). It was demolished in the 1960s and replaced with the present building in the international modern style. The site was chosen in 1831 by George and Robert Stephenson , engineers of the L&BR. The area was mostly farmland at the edge of the expanding city, and adjacent to the New Road (now Euston Road ), which had caused urban development. The name Euston came from Euston Hall ,

16660-666: The total to 23, with 10 dedicated to HS2 services and 13 to conventional lines at a low level. The flats demolished for the extension would be replaced by significant building work above. The Underground station would be rebuilt and connected to adjacent Euston Square station. As part of the extension beyond Birmingham, the Mayor of London's office believed it will be necessary to build the proposed Crossrail 2 line via Euston to relieve 10,000 extra passengers forecast to arrive during an average day. To relieve pressure on Euston during and after rebuilding for High Speed 2, HS2 Ltd has proposed

16800-413: The train divides into two portions: the front eight carriages continue to Glasgow Central with one intermediate stop at Motherwell , while the rear eight carriages reverse at Carstairs and continue non-stop to Edinburgh Waverley , both portions arriving at their respective destinations the following morning. Carlisle, Carstairs and Motherwell are all served for alighting passengers only. Similarly, in

16940-449: The train continues to Fort William, the middle portion is for Aberdeen, and the rear portion runs to Inverness. These services arrive at their respective destinations in the morning of the next day. Similarly, going southbound, three separate services depart each of Aberdeen, Inverness and Fort William in the evening, hauled by a Class 73/9 locomotive up to Edinburgh. These services are then combined to form one train at Edinburgh Waverley;

17080-752: The trains and crews for the Serco franchise in 2015, it was planned to use rebuilt Class 73/9s . The first of these came into service in February 2016. Former train types operated by Caledonian Sleeper include: During April 2019, new Mark 5 carriages were introduced to service, however, the inaugural journey was more than three hours late arriving at London Euston . Various other services through 2019 were reported as delayed on account of "technical faults". Services run joined between London and Scotland where they are split into shorter trains to serve multiple destinations. After being split at Carstairs on 1 August 2019,

17220-451: The trains were hauled by EWS Class 37s to Fort William and 47s to Aberdeen and Inverness until June 2001 when Class 67s began to replace the Class 47. The Class 67 units were also used on the Fort William route from June 2006. Four locomotives were fitted with cast iron brakes and restricted to 80 mph (130 km/h) for this additional service. When GB Railfreight started to provide

17360-727: The type of ticket bought. A night train with sleeping carriages included operates on the route between the two largest Croatian towns, Zagreb and Split , and Croatian sleeping coaches are included on the Zagreb- Stuttgart -Zagreb and Zagreb- Zürich -Zagreb EuroNight lines. Sleeping car services in the Czech Republic are operated by České dráhy and RegioJet . ČD operates them on the Prague - Leipzig - Zürich line, Prague - Linz - Zürich line, Prague - Humenné line and others. RegioJet provides them on various trains on

17500-400: The upper level is divided into two halves, one half containing "Bedrooms" (formerly "Deluxe Bedrooms") for one, two, or three travelers, each Bedroom containing an enclosed toilet-and-shower facility; and the other half containing " Roomettes " (formerly "Economy Bedrooms" or "Standard Bedrooms") for one or two travelers; plus a beverage area and a toilet. The lower level contains more Roomettes;

17640-407: Was 125 ft (38 m) long, 61 ft (18.6 m) wide, and 62 ft (18.9 m) high with a coffered ceiling and a sweeping double flight of stairs leading to offices at its northern end. Architectural sculptor John Thomas contributed eight allegorical statues representing the cities served by the line. The station faced Drummond Street, further back from Euston Road than the front of

17780-599: Was built with space left vacant for extra platforms, as it was originally planned for the Great Western Railway (GWR) to use Euston, as the terminus of the Great Western Main Line . In the event, the GWR chose to build their own terminus at Paddington . The spare land was instead used for more platforms for ever expanding services as the railway network grew. The station building, designed by

17920-423: Was designed for first-class passengers. Between 1838 and 1841, parcel handling grew from 2,700 parcels a month to 52,000. By 1845, 140 staff were employed but trains began to run late because of a lack of capacity. The following year, two platforms (later 9 and 10) were constructed on vacant land to the west of the station that had been reserved for Great Western Railway services. The L&BR amalgamated with

18060-527: Was due to some routes being covered by daytime high-speed trains, the age of rolling stock and the diminishing popularity of some of the services. Renfe announced that trains to and from the Spanish region of Galicia would eventually be reintroduced. This marked the end of sleeper trains in Portugal and it left Celta as the last international train service between Portugal and Spain. The Estrella (Star)

18200-425: Was expanded after the L&BR was amalgamated with other companies to form the London and North Western Railway , and the original sheds were replaced by the Great Hall in 1849. Capacity was increased throughout the 19th century from two platforms to fifteen. The station was controversially rebuilt in the mid-1960s when the Arch and the Great Hall were demolished to accommodate the electrified West Coast Main Line, and

18340-526: Was held after negotiations between the RMT and Serco broke down over claims of poor staffing levels and insufficient training. By mid-2020, the Caledonian Sleeper had considerably curtailed its services in response to the significant decline of passenger travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic . In late 2021, the Caledonian Sleeper was subject to further strikes over allegations of bullying and harassment of staff. It

18480-579: Was initially operated by National Express . The service continued to be operated using the same Mark 3 sleeping cars that had been operated by British Rail, but there were no suitable locomotives immediately available. Accordingly, the short-term hiring of locomotives from the West Coast operator Virgin Trains was implemented. The arrangement continued until March 1998, at which point the freight operator English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) took on

18620-637: Was introduced to the station in 2015 to help people with visual impairment to navigate the station. In September 2023, the Office of Rail and Road issued Network Rail with an improvement notice in relation to its failure to put in place effective measures to tackle overcrowding. Network Rail admitted that the station was designed for a different era and that "the passenger experience at Euston remains uncomfortable at times". The Office of Rail and Road declared in December 2023 that Network Rail had complied with

18760-404: Was made for a sleeping berth. Sleeping car services were operated on both the west and east coast routes to multiple destinations for over a century, even under the nationalised railway operator British Rail . During 1976, services from King's Cross ran to Edinburgh and Aberdeen , and from Euston to Glasgow Central , Perth , Inverness , Stranraer Harbour , and Fort William . There was also

18900-570: Was not viable. The Arch's demolition, announced by the Minister of Transport, Ernest Marples in July 1961, drew objections from the Earl of Euston , the Earl of Rosse and John Betjeman . Experts did not believe the work would cost £190,000 and speculated it could be done more cheaply by foreign labour. On 16 October 1961, 75 architects and students staged a demonstration against its demolition inside

19040-402: Was opened by Queen Elizabeth II on 14 October 1968. The station is a long, low structure, 200 feet (61 m) wide and 150 feet (46 m) deep under a 36-foot (11 m) high roof. It opened with integrated automatic ticket facilities and a range of shops; the first of its kind for any British station. The plan to construct offices above the station whose rents would help fund the cost of

19180-586: Was performed at Inverness TMD until April 2015, when the work was contracted out to Alstom and transferred to Polmadie Traction and Rolling Stock Maintenance Depot . Two types of motive power are used for the Caledonian Sleeper . On the electrified routes between Glasgow/Edinburgh and London electric locomotives haul the trains. There were none of these included in the ScotRail franchises, instead they contracted Virgin Trains to provide Class 87s . In March 1998, these were replaced by English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS) Class 90s . As of 2015, Serco has

19320-519: Was transferred to FirstGroup . Since April 2015, the Caledonian Sleeper has been structured as a standalone franchise. It was operated by Serco under the supervision of the Scottish Government . As a part of its successful bid, Serco had pledged to invest £100   million into the service, which was to be spent on, amongst other things, procuring new rolling stock. During 2019, a new fleet of Mark 5 carriages were introduced, replacing

19460-426: Was transferred to the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) in the 1923 grouping . Apart from the lodges on Euston Road and statues now on the forecourt, few relics of the old station survive. The National Railway Museum 's collection at York includes Edward Hodges Baily 's statue of George Stephenson from the Great Hall; the entrance gates; and a turntable from 1846 discovered during demolition. By

19600-545: Was withdrawn without reprieve. On 4 June 1996, the overnight service was relaunched under the Caledonian Sleeper brand. Each portion of the service was assigned its own identity, with the Night Caledonian to Glasgow, Night Scotsman to Edinburgh, Night Aberdonian to Aberdeen, Royal Highlander to Inverness and West Highlander to Fort William. On 31 March 1997, it became part of the ScotRail franchise which

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