Night Riviera - merged posts, ongoing discussion

[whole diary]

[TaplowGreen]

Problems tonight by the look of it......

23:50 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54 will be starting late from London Paddington.

This is due to a broken down train.

Further Information
Customers travelling from unstaffed stations are requested to make use of the Customer Help Point systems available, or contact National Rail Enquiries on 03457 484 950 detailing the total number of passengers travelling, and their intended destinations. This will enable us to get suitable road replacement transport to customers as quickly as possible.

[bobm]

Suspect the staff were delayed travelling up from Cornwall.

[Sleepy]

  I see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) says Sleeper services cancelled Sunday 31st July, what would be the reason for this be as strike is on Saturday. Think they could make more effort with Friday 29th service too, surely the service could operate from Paddington as far as Plymouth (limit of service on strike days) with coaches provided for Cornwall - after all GWR could be liable to accommodate berth passengers in hotels given NCOT ? 

[a-driver]

I see GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) says Sleeper services cancelled Sunday 31st July, what would be the reason for this be as strike is on Saturday. Think they could make more effort with Friday 29th service too, surely the service could operate from Paddington as far as Plymouth (limit of service on strike days) with coaches provided for Cornwall - after all GWR could be liable to accommodate berth passengers in hotels given NCOT ? 

With regards to Friday nights service. One driver, who books on for duty on Friday, would work the sleeper to Exeter. After that, the next driver potentially books on Saturday morning (strike day). Therefore the sleeper set is stranded at Exeter. Same applies with the up sleeper.
If the sleeper ran into any difficulty during its journey and required assistance, you’d be looking for a driver who would have booked on for duty on the Saturday, potentially leaving the sleeper stranded.

I don’t understand why it’s not able to run Sunday though.

[clivestravelandtrains]

I used the Night Riviera for the first time on 8th June 2022 and really enjoyed the experience. I slept better than expected and the coaches - although older - were quieter and less rattly than the Caledonian. We had a loco attached to the rear, which apparently was detached at Reading.
I travelled with my bike, and it was relatively easy to book it for a space in Coach A.
I made a film about the trip which is on YouTube:-  https://youtu.be/AyVAbBlmvXU 

[broadgage]

Welcome, but by the way it is not the "done thing" to like your own posts.

[grahame]

Welcome too ... glad you enjoyed the trip on the sleeper.   Can't look at the video now - very limited bandwidth on the  train.     Where you say "quieter than the Cally" - is that the old Cally coaches of the new one of a couple of years back?

[Sleepy]

   Sleepers cancelled Friday 12th August, Sunday 14th also following Weds / Thurs / Friday due to strikes by ASLEF^» (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen - about) and RMT^▸ (National Union of Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers). About time Grant Schapps or whatever his name is this week sorted this mess out instead of telling DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to sit on their hands !!

[grahame]

About time Grant Schapps or whatever his name is this week sorted this mess out instead of telling DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) to sit on their hands !!

But perhaps what they are [doing / not doing] in Horseferry Road is their way forward in sorting out this mess.  What are the various strategic objectives here?

[bobm]

Spotted at London Paddington this week.  The class 57 Tintagel Castle used for the sleeper has been fitted with new nameplates in the same style as the HST^▸ (High Speed Train (Inter City class 43 125 units)) Castle power cars.


(although they could have made a better job of covering up where the old plates were)

Meanwhile 57604 Pendennis Castle has kept its heritage GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) plates for the moment at least.

[GBM]

From Journeycheck today (31st August)
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54
23:45 London Paddington to Penzance due 07:54 will be starting late from London Paddington and is expected to be 1 minute late.
This is due to a problem currently under investigation.

Eh?
Currently under investigation?
By implications there was a problem with the up Cornwall one.
It seems to have arrived on time at Paddington, but was running up to 10 minutes late through to Ivybridge.
Seems to be mostly running to time back to Reading TrainCare.

[GBM]

Seems to have stopped at a green light East of Slough.
Bit of a backlog behind it.
Freight 4Z86 diverted from platform 4 to 1.
2N12 & 9R36 still behind it at Langley (outbound).

[JayMac]

Excellent review of the Night Riviera by YouTuber Winginit! Paul Lucas.

[bobm]

Normally the up and down sleepers pass each other just east of Taunton.   Last night they met at Swindon.

The eastbound sleeper makes a staff call at Swindon just after 3am and just as it was departing the westbound (booked to start from Reading because of the problems nearer Paddington) passed through running some 1 hour and 40 minutes late.  It was still half an hour late when it reached Penzance.

It was a busy few minutes at Swindon.  The 23:32 Paddington to Temple Meads was late leaving London and then heavily delayed on the way to Reading to the extent it was 147 minutes late when it called at Swindon just after 3am.

[Rob S]

It was a busy few minutes at Swindon.  The 23:32 Paddington to Temple Meads was late leaving London and then heavily delayed on the way to Reading to the extent it was 147 minutes late when it called at Swindon just after 3am.

Yep, I was on it....it left Paddington full and standing, 39 minutes late and then we were held outside Slough for what was announced as problems related to the points failure although was described as due to an incident the police were attending. We were then held at Slough station due to a medical emergency with an ambulance in attendance...certainly plenty of passengers that were bored to death near me.