Night Riviera

Night Riviera Sleeper Service
Overview
Franchise(s): Part of Great Western franchise
Main route(s): London - Cornwall
Fleet size: 4 Class 57 locomotives
10 Mark 3 Sleeping carriages
8 Mark 3 Seating carriages
Stations called at: 15
Parent company: FirstGroup
Website: https://www.gwr.com/your-journey/journey-information/on-board/night-riviera-sleeper
Night Riviera Train route (interactive map)

The Night Riviera is a sleeper train operated by Great Western Railway (GWR). It is one of only two sleeper services on the railway in the United Kingdom (the other being the Caledonian Sleeper). It runs six nights a week (Sunday - Friday) between London Paddington and Penzance with one train in each direction.

History

The first sleeping car train on the Great Western Railway was introduced at the end of 1877 from London Paddington to Plymouth. This had 7 ft (2,134 mm) broad gauge carriages with two dormitories, one with seven gentlemen’s berths and the other with four ladies’ berths. These were replaced in 1881 by new carriages with six individual compartments.[1]

An additional service was soon added from London to Penzance, which eventually became known as the Night Riviera. For example, in 1920 the two trains left London at 22:00 for Penzance and midnight for Plymouth;[2] by 1947 they had been brought forward to 21:50 and 23:50.[3] Under British Railways sleeping cars were limited to just the Penzance service.[4]

On 5 July 1978 the up train left Penzance at 21:30 but never reached London. Approaching Taunton early the next morning the emergency brake was activated and it came to a stand short of the station with one of the carriages on fire. This had been caused by dirty linen that had been placed near a heater, which had been a standard and safe practice before the recent change from steam to electric heating. Twelve people died and 13 were injured.[5] At this time the down train left London at 00:05.[6]

On 11 July 1983 the Penzance sleeper was relaunched as the Night Riviera, designed to complement the long-established daytime Cornish Riviera. New Mark 3 air-conditioned sleeping cars were introduced with many safety features that had been lacking in the Mark 1 carriages that had caught fire at Taunton.[7] These were the first on the route with controlled emission toilets, so discharge facilities were provided at Plymouth Laira and Penzance Long Rock depots where the carriages were serviced, although for a time being the carriages were taken from Paddington to Willesden Depot for discharging as Old Oak Common was not initially equipped.[8] A new pricing scheme was also introduced. Instead of paying a sleeping berth supplement on top of the fare for the journey, all-inclusive fares were introduced that were set at competitive rates. The seating carriages that formed part of the train were mainly Mark 2 carriages.[7] The train by now was again leaving London at midnight, shown in the timetables as 23:59.[9]

Great Western Trains livery, which continued to be used by First Great Western until 2008
Night Riviera branding with the former First Great Western brand

Privatisation saw the service become part of the Great Western Trains franchise and the rolling stock was repainted into its green and white livery. Between 29 May 1995 and 26 September 1998 the service operated from London Waterloo.[10] In March 1998 Great Western Trains was rebranded First Great Western.

The service was revised in December 2006. The carriage detached at Plymouth was withdrawn as it typically only carried four passengers: the train still calls but passengers need to alight on arrival rather than stay in their berths until ready to leave. The stop at Bristol Temple Meads was also withdrawn, to introduce flexibility to divert the service during overnight engineering works.[11] The Class 47s were replaced in 2004 by Class 57s.[12] In 2006 former Virgin West Coast Mark 3 carriages replaced the Mark 2 carriages.[13] The carriages were refurbished by Railcare, Wolverton in 2008 and repainted in First Great Western's blue livery.[14][15]

In June 2012, with the Great Western franchise scheduled for renewal the following year, the Secretary of State for Transport confirmed the service would continue to be subsidised.[16]

Current operations

Route

Night Riviera route map

 London Paddington
Readingpick up only westbound, set down only eastbound
 Tauntonno service on Sundays
 Exeter St Davids
 Newton Abbot

 Totneseastbound only
 Plymouth
 Liskeard
 Bodmin Parkway

 Lostwithielwestbound only
 Parwestbound only on Sundays
 St Austell
 Truro
 Redruth
 Camborne

 Haylewestbound only
 St Erth
 Penzance

The westbound service operates with headcode 1C99, the return 1A40.[17][18]

The Night Riviera operates along a single route, unlike the Caledonian Sleeper. From London Paddington, the train stops first at Reading then for many years had a long run without advertised stops to Taunton. This allowed it to use different routes between Reading to Taunton depending on engineering work or other blockades each night:

Up and Down services pass at Taunton

However, by 2016 a stop at Westbury (westbound only) was advertised, preventing use of some of these alternatives. In exceptional circumstances it can be diverted between Castle Cary and Exeter St Davids via Yeovil Pen Mill, Yeovil Junction and Honiton, not calling at Taunton and reversing at Exeter.

It continues to Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot and Plymouth, crossing into Cornwall and calling at Liskeard then most stations down the Cornish Main Line to Penzance.

The 2009 timetable has Totnes, Lostwithiel and Hayle served in one direction only with no service stops at Par or Taunton for the eastbound train on Sunday night/Monday morning.[19]

Sleeper passengers have the use of waiting facilities at Paddington that are usually reserved for First Class passengers.[20]

Rolling stock

57605 and Night Riviera carriages at Penzance Long Rock Depot

All carriages are air-conditioned Mark 3s.[14] Passengers pay standard fares with a supplementary charge for a sleeping berth (a single berth is more expensive per person than twin bunk berths).[20]

The train is usually hauled by one of four dedicated Class 57 locomotives. These are rebuilt and re-engined Class 47s delivered in 2004. They follow the tradition of Great Western Railway Castle Class steam locomotives that once worked the route by carrying the names of castles in Devon and Cornwall:

It usually consists of seven carriages but in times of high demand this is built up to nine.

References

  1. ↑ MacDermot, E T (1931). History of the Great Western Railway. 2 (1863-1921) (1 ed.). London: Great Western Railway.
  2. ↑ Time Tables. London: Great Western Railway. 4 October 1920.
  3. ↑ Time Tables. London: Great Western Railway. 6 October 1947.
  4. ↑ Western Region Timetable. London: British Railways. 14 June 1965.
  5. ↑ Vaughan, Adrian (2003) [2000]. Tracks to Disaster. Hersham: Ian Allan Publishing. ISBN 0-7110-2985-7.
  6. ↑ Passenger Timetable, Great Britain. London: British Rail. 2 May 1977.
  7. 1 2 "Night Riviera cuts sleeper travel costs". Modern Railways (Ian Allan Publishing) 40 (420): 454. 1983. ISSN 0026-8356.
  8. ↑ Abbott, James (1983). "Controlled emission toilets". Modern Railways (Ian Allan Publishing) 40 (421): 554. ISSN 0026-8356.
  9. ↑ British Rail Passenger Timetable. London: British Railways. 29 September 1986.
  10. ↑ "Rail Chronology : Sheepcote Lane Curve, London : its passenger services". Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  11. ↑ Perren, Brian. "First Group’s ten-year plans for the Western". Modern Railways (Ian Allan Publishing) 63 (697): 61–66. ISSN 0026-8356.
  12. ↑ Rail Magazine issue 488 26 May 2004 page 42
  13. ↑ Rail Magazine issue 539 10 May 2006 page 11
  14. 1 2 Marsden, Colin J (2008). "Night Riviera refurbished". Modern Railways (Ian Allan Publishing) 65 (719): 70. ISSN 0026-8356.
  15. ↑ Rail Magazine (595), 2 July 2008: 16 Missing or empty |title= (help)
  16. ↑ "Sleeper train from Penzance to capital is saved". Western Morning News. 2012-06-09. Retrieved 2012-06-09.
  17. ↑ 1C99 23:45 London Paddington to Penzance Open Trains Times
  18. ↑ 1A40 21:45 Penzance to London Paddington Open Train Times
  19. ↑ "National Rail Timetable 135 (Summer 2009)" (PDF). Network Rail. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  20. 1 2 "Night Riviera Sleeper Service". First Great Western. Archived from the original on 29 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-10-16.

External links

Media related to Night Riviera at Wikimedia Commons

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