The Night Riviera - Overnight from London to Cornwall

GWR sleeper coaches wait to welcome passengers at London Paddington

Paddington's First Class Lounge.

Overnight sleeper services often seem a bit of a secret of the UK's railways. Few notice these trains as they snake across the country overnight providing vital connections between the capital and some of the UK's far reaching limbs. There has been plenty of press recently about the Caledonian Sleeper which connects London with many destinations in Scotland and is investing in a new fleet of coaches fit for the 21st century- however there is one other sleeper service remaining in the UK, also offering an excellent level of service; the Night Riviera running 6 nights a week between London Paddington and Penzance.

Before departure from London Paddington sleeper passengers are entitled to use the First Class lounge adjacent to platform 1 (First class lounge facilities and showers are also available at Penaznce and Truro) to enjoy a complimentary snack or hot drink before departure. On our trip the lounge at Paddington was beginning to wind down as we entered but was still a pleasant place to wait for the trains departure at 23:45. Cabins are available for guests to book in from 22:30. 

57604 in heritage 'GWR' colours prepares to haul the Night Riviera from
Paddington to Penzance on the evening of 13th April 2018.

The Night Riviera is hauled by one of GWR's class 57 locomotives, converted from class 47's which previously hauled the train in the early 2000's. These locomotives haul the train of smart green liveried refurbished Mk3 coaches. Unlike the Caledonian Sleeper offering these vehicles are far from brand new- but you would be hard pushed to notice from the inside as a full refurbishment has left the Mk3's with a clean and comfortable interior. Cabins comprise of two bunks which are never shared with other travellers, each cabin containing a small wash basin. Toilets are provided at the ends of each coach. The compartments are sleek and clean with charging facilities and reading lights- the beds are also very comfortable with two pillows and a towel provided for every passenger. Accessible cabins are available for those who require them.

The Night Riviera Lounge car shortly after departure from Paddington

Like the Caledonian sleeper the Night Riviera contains a lounge car in the consists which is the perfect place for sleeper passengers to unwind. The lounge too has been fully refurbished and is one of the smartest Mk3 vehicles currently on the network (though the odd tables for two with seats that don't face each other are very bizzare!). A bar service of drinks and light snacks is available, however given the much later departure from London it is not surprising that the offer is more limited that the Caledonian Sleeper, and it is also noticeable that the lounge car empties out much quicker- after all it is almost midnight by the time the train has departed from London and most sensible passengers will be heading to bed!

Hopefully a good sleep later passengers wake as the train is winding its way through Cornwall to a complimentary continental breakfast served in the cabins. The only problem perhaps is that the journey is, for a sleeper, so short! Arrival in Truro is little over 7 hours after departure from London and Penzance is reached shortly before 8am. This is all in all though a great way to travel between London and Cornwall and wake up relaxed and ready for the day. (Hopefully the loud knocking noise from beneath our coach was a one off and has been fixed by the GWR engineering team!).

A blast from the past

Occasionally I find myself looking back through old photos- Things that you might not have seen on the site before- maybe I never got around to publishing them, writing the piece that I had planned at the time, or maybe the pictures just weren't worth doing anything with.
Today's picture has never appeared here previously as it pre-dates the blog! Yes, back in the dark days of Fotopic my railway musings would appear there. Unlike some when the service ceased I did not loose any of my photos- what I did loose were the captions and the huge amount of time taken to upload everything.
This picture of EP07-356 passing Kraków Łobzów on 10 February 2011 was from my first 'proper' foreign rail trip didn't make the cut then either. It was far too overexposed n its unedited form and besides- it was one of the first photos of the trip and was 'just another' green EP07!
Today EP07-356 is anything but 'just another' loco. Unlike the vast majority of its classmates it still wears green, with yellow fronts and lining as one of the celebrities of the remaining PKP fleet. What it doesn't of course have is the traditionally painted coaches to go with it. Back in 2011 the green locos were far from plentiful - now only a handful of specially kept examples are running in traditional colours.
For those finding the profile of the locomotive familiar, the EP07 is derived from the 20 British Built English Electric EU06 class- effectively a Polish version of the class 83! While the 83 is long gone from British metals its derivatives in Poland continue to ply their trade.