Caledonian Sleeper service disruption continues

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Caledonian Sleeper trainImage source, PA

Disruption to the Caledonian Sleeper services will continue into next week following damage to a train's wheels.

Some services between Edinburgh and London are cancelled on Sunday and Monday, with Glasgow services affected on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Serco, which runs the sleeper, said wheels were damaged when emergency brakes came on last Tuesday night.

The problems follow the introduction of the new £150m fleet, which began running at the end of April.

A replacement bus picked up customers in the West Midlands in the early hours of Wednesday after the emergency brake deployed on a Scotland-bound train.

This meant the wheels were dragged along the tracks, resulting in "wheel flats" where part of the metal is worn away by friction.

Since then a number of services have been cancelled, and Caledonian Sleeper has now announced the disruption will continue until Wednesday.

The cancelled services are:

  • Sunday's London Euston to Edinburgh service
  • Monday's Edinburgh to London Euston service
  • Tuesday's London Euston to Glasgow Central service
  • Wednesday's Glasgow Central to London Euston service

Serco managing director of the Caledonian Sleeper Ryan Flaherty said: "Several of our carriages sustained wheel flats following a deployment of the emergency brake on the Lowlander service between London and Scotland on Tuesday night.

"As a result, we have had to cancel a number of planned services while repairs are carried out. We apologise to those guests affected and have taken steps to give them as much notice as possible.

"We are working hard to ensure the carriages are back in service as soon as possible."

Passengers have been offered a full refund. If they still require overnight travel, alternative coach transportation has been arranged.