Caledonian Sleeper

''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 the rival East Coast Main Line as well; however, all remaining sleeper services that ran on the east coast routes were withdrawn in May 1988.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 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, was transferred to FirstGroup and is 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 the British Rail-era carriages. These are hauled by a combination of electric locomotives (on electrified sections only) and rebuilt electro-diesel locomotives; prior traction withdrawn in 2019 included , and locomotives.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.

Anglo-Scottish sleepers up to 1996

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 . It became the first sleeping carriage used on British railways when it made 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 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 , and from Euston to , , , , and . There was also a service from 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 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 the 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 was withdrawn without reprieve.

The ''Caledonian Sleeper''

ScotRail

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 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 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, the ScotRail franchise, including the ''Caledonian Sleeper'' service, was transferred to FirstGroup

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