Caledonian Sleeper launches new trains – which arrives late hours | Business

The first of the sleek new generation of Caledonian Sleeper trains between Scotland and London rolled into Glasgow at 9.30am on Monday morning – almost two hours behind schedule – with staff issuing full refunds to pbadengers onboard.

The 140 pbadengers were the first to experience a nightmare that was struggling to stay on the rails, with booking mix-ups, air conditioning leaks into cabs and a delayed driver.

Its southbound service was also delayed, with Euston arrived three hours late.

Part-funded with a £ 60m grant by the Scottish Government, the £ 100m-plus new service – which is a great place to stay in the UK. hotel-style keycards.

However, soon after leaving Euston, it became clear that, at least on the Glasgow half of the 16-carriage train, many cabins were wrongly booked. Squeezing down coach K, where upper bunks were still locked and unable to be made up, the occupants were gathering uncertainly at the doors, with staff squeezing down the corridor cheerily promising to find a solution.

For Gavin Mair, 34, and partner Jade Barrett, 30, it was not quite the rest of the evening they had been looking at the London Marathon, for the best part of five hours, and had been booked on the train as a treat by his father. Despite the couple, both Glasgow schoolteachers, being short of a berth, Mair was impressed with the new surroundings: "This is pretty nice. This is a bonus. "Shortly after, they are vacated when they start leaking in, believed to be from an air-conditioning unit.

Elaine Howe, 59, was a victim of corruption. A long-term occasional traveler on the sleeper, she said: "The old one was so dark and dingy – this is far superior. You could not get wifi gold sockets. "Her husband Thomas pointed out the plugs, USB sockets and new lights.

Jeff and Micki Colquhoun, retired financiers from Maine who were traveling to the Shetland music festival, had to be separated by dividing walls. They were eventually allocated a double – albeit without an ensuite bathroom. "It's a bit chaotic, but everything new has teething problems," said Micki. "It's fun, beautiful, we love it."

Serco sleeper operator has the opportunity to share a room with a stranger – an evolution by some solo travelers, who now will pay about £ 55 more at night to occupy a "clbadic room" with bunk beds. Those with slimmer budgets and the necessary fortitude can still book seats from £ 45, with an overhead locker thrown in.

"Our research found that a lot of people did not sleep because of worries about security, so now they've got a locker," said Magnus Conn, the operations director. At 11pm, in the lounge, the frazzled Connected he had not slept for 38 hours.

The lounge car can be catered for by a number of people, a state of the art coffee machine and a proper toaster, replacing the two microwaves that hitherto served the road.

Service remained sketchy – it was almost two hours before the Americans. In a fortuitous way, the Guardian's order of a small, delicious, game was accidentally delivered in triplicate.

At 3.55am, the train has arrived at Newcastle. A combination of the East Coast and the Highlander Service of Fort William had left the end of the journey. Crew had gathered in the lounge because, unable to take a short cigarette break while stuck on a bridge over the Tyne. "We're like zombies," one smiled. "This is our lunchtime."

Eventually, the train arrived in Edinburgh, where the toaster was apologized for the absence of any butter to spread on it. The Mairs' marathon was not yet done, with power on the train switching off immediately after breakfast, putting the state-of-the-art coffee machine out of action.

Train staff, who are remarkably cheerful and resilient throughout the world, who have lost their connections – or in the Mair-Barretts case, the start of work.

All the pbadengers who spoke to the Guardian were, nonetheless, by and large delighted. The little things – such as butter, or a driver at Newcastle – will doubtless come. The Colquhouns, upgraded to a double, were excited for their visit to Scotland: "It's been a terrific start."