Night Riviera
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Franchise(s): | N/A |
| Main route(s): | London - Penzance |
| Other route(s): | None |
| Fleet size: | 4 Class 57 locomotives Mark 3 day coaches Mark 3 sleeper coaches |
| Stations: | 16 |
| Parent company: | First Great Western |
| Web site: | www.firstgreatwestern.co.uk/Content.aspx?id=42 |
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The Night Riviera is a sleeper train service operated by First Great Western. It is one of only three remaining sleeper services on the railway in Great Britain (the others being the Caledonian Sleepers). It runs two trains per night, six days a week (Sun-Fri) between London Paddington and Penzance, with one train departing in each direction.
[edit] Service
The service is pulled by four dedicated Class 57 locomotives. The locomotives and rolling stock still bear the original First Great Western green and gold, and did not receive First's new corporate colours of blue and pink in 2000. 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.
[edit] Amenities
The Night Riviera operates First Class and Standard Class. Passengers pay standard fares, with extra charges for sleeping berths (a single berth is more expensive than a double berth); passengers with First Class tickets pay extra for their sleeping berth, but receive complimentary breakfast and newspaper. In addition, sleeper passengers receive the following amenities:
- Dedicated Service Leader to provide an at-seat food and beverage service
- Air-conditioned sleeper berths
- A complimentary toiletry pack
- Morning wake up call
- Complimentary newspaper and breakfast for First Class passengers
- Use of First Class Lounge on arrival in Paddington, including complimentary refreshments for all sleeper berth passengers
- Use of showers for sleeper berth passengers upon arrival at Paddington.
- Free taxi transfer from Paddington to Waterloo 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 are pulled as part of the train. This service was only available in the summer from May to September, but was permanently withdrawn after 2005.
| Domestic: | Arriva Trains Wales - c2c - Central Trains1 - Chiltern Railways - First Capital Connect First Great Western - First ScotRail - Grand Central2 - GNER - Heathrow Connect Hull Trains - Island Line3 - Merseyrail - Midland Mainline1 - Northern Rail Northern Ireland Railways4 - 'one' - Silverlink1 - Southeastern - Southern South West Trains - TransPennine Express - Virgin Trains (VWC - VXC1) |
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| International: | Enterprise4 - Eurostar |
| Airport Link: | Gatwick Express - Heathrow Express - Stansted Express5 |
| Sleeper: | Caledonian Sleeper6 - Night Riviera7 |
| 1 Ends November 2007 - 2 Starts 20 May 2007 - 3 Operated by South West Trains 4 Operated on the Irish railway network - 5 Operated by 'one' - 6 Operated by First ScotRail 7 Operated by First Great Western |
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| Future passenger train operators and franchises in Great Britain | |
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| New Franchises: | Cross Country1 - East Midlands1 - InterCity East Coast - London Overground1 West Midlands1 |
| Proposed open-access operators: |
Glasgow Trains2 - Grand Union2 - Humber & City2 - Wrexham & Shropshire3 |
| 1 Starts November 2007 - 2 Proposed - 3 Awaiting Approval | |
