Night Riviera

Franchise(s)	Part of the Great Western franchise; (1998 - 31. March 2006); Part of Greater Western franchise; (1. April 2006 – 2016)
Main route(s)	London - Cornwall
Other route(s)	; None
Fleet size	4 Class 57 locomotives; Mark 3 day coaches; Mark 3 sleeper coaches
Stations called at	; 16
Parent company	; First Great Western
Other
Website	www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=1555

The Night Riviera is a sleeper train service operated by First Great Western. It is one of only two remaining sleeper services on the railway in Great Britain (the other being the Caledonian Sleeper). It runs two trains per night, six days a week (Sun-Fri) between London Paddington and Penzance, with one train departing in each direction.

History

Sleeping car trains began in the United Kingdom in the 19th Century, and provision of sleeping berths between Cornwall and London dates back to the Great Western Railway. The Night Riviera name was coined in the mid 1980s by British Rail to complement the daytime Cornish Riviera and coincided with the introduction of Mk3 air-conditioned sleeping cars on this service. Due to the different departure times, the first Night Riviera was the 21:15 departure from Penzance, hauled by a class 47 locomotive.

In 1978 twelve people died and thirteen people were injured in the Taunton sleeping car fire.

Current operations

The service is usually hauled by one of four dedicated Class 57 locomotives. The locomotives and rolling stock did not receive First's new corporate colours of blue and pink in 2000, but have now mostly been painted in the new "Dynamic Lines" livery and "Power Car Blue" to match the HST stock. In 2006 the Mark 2 day coaches were replaced with newer Mark 3 day coaches formerly operated by Virgin Trains, with the green and gold colours applied to match the rest of the train, but now repainted into house colours. The rolling stock was refurbished at Wolverton Works during 2007-2008, the locomotives receiving remedial attention and a repaint at Brush-Barclay in Kilmarnock.

The westbound service operates with headcode 1C99; the reverse as 1A40.

Route

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Unlike the Caledonian Sleeper, the only other current UK sleeper service, the Night Riviera operates along a single route. From London Paddington, the train stops first at Reading then has a long run without advertised stops to Taunton. This allows it to be use a variety of different routes depending on engineering work or other blockages each night:

From Reading along the direct line through Westbury.
From Reading along the Great Western Main Line and South Wales Main Line to Bristol and then down to Taunton.
From Reading along the Great Western Railway to Chippenham then through Trowbridge to rejoin the usual route at Fairwood Junction, Westbury.
Diverging at Heywood Road Junction, Westbury, to travel through Trowbridge to Bristol and then down to Taunton.

It then continues to Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot and Plymouth. The train then crosses into Cornwall and calls at Liskeard then most stations down the Cornish Main Line to the terminus at Penzance. Note that Totnes, Lostwithiel and Hayle are only served in one direction, and that there is currently (2009) no stops at Par or taunton for the eastbound train on Sunday night/Monday morning.^[1]

Amenities

The Night Riviera operates Standard Class only. Passengers pay standard fares, with extra charges for sleeping berths (a single berth is more expensive per person than a double berth). Sleeper passengers receive the following amenities:

Dedicated steward to provide an at-seat food and beverage service
Air-conditioned sleeper berths
A toiletry pack
Morning wake up call
Newspaper and breakfast
Use of First Class Lounge on arrival in Paddington, including refreshments
Use of showers for sleeper berth passengers upon arrival at Paddington.
Free taxi transfer from Paddington to St Pancras International for Eurostar passengers

The Night Riviera was also responsible for pulling the last Motorail service on British railways; the Friday Night Riviera had special carriages capable of accommodating a number of cars which were pulled as part of the train. This service was only available in the summer from May to September, but was permanently withdrawn after 2005.