Caledonian Sleeper - Caledonian Sleeper Rolling Stock - (K)

Caledonian Sleeper - (K)

Caledonian Sleeper Rolling Stock

The ScotRail franchise inherited 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 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 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, 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 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.

Caledonian Sleeper Overview

Franchise(s):

Part of ScotRail (31 March 1997 – 30 March 2015)

Standalone franchise (31 March 2015 – present)

Main region(s):

West Coast Main Line

Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line

Highland Main Line

West Highland Line

Fleet Size: 75 Mark 5 carriages

Stations called at: 48

Parent Company: Scottish Rail Holdings

Reporting Mark: CS

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