Complaints about Caledonian sleeper heading towards 1,000 since nationalisation

The number of complaints that have been made about the Caledonian Sleeper since it was nationalised last year has reached nearly 900.

Nearly £1 million of compensation payments have also been paid out to disappointed passengers during the same period.

New figures published by the Scottish Conservatives show that 881 complaints were made, with a third about the upkeep and repair of the train, which came back into public ownership in June 2023.

Scottish Conservative transport spokeswoman Sue Webber claimed the figures suggested that the SNP’s nationalisation was “not going to plan” and “passengers were receiving a subpar service.”

Scottish Conservative shadow transport secretary Sue Webber MSP said: “The SNP’s nationalisation of the Caledonian Sleeper is not going to plan.

“Just like SNP-run ScotRail, it looks like they have messed up the nationalisation of the Caledonian Sleeper as well.

“Passengers are receiving a sub-par service and as a result complaints have continued to pour in from them.

“Taxpayers have also had to foot the bill for nearly a million pounds in compensation payments, largely for delayed services.

“If the SNP want to get people out of their cars and onto public transport, then they must change their current approach.

“Common sense should tell them that passengers won’t put up with train services that continue to be costly and unreliable.”

A previous Freedom of Information response to the Scottish Conservatives also revealed that £965,672 has been paid out in compensation.

Ministers decided last year to nationalise the rail franchise, having terminated Serco's contract seven years early.

Sue Webber MSP claimed passengers were getting a sub-par service | supplied

Speaking at the time, Transport Minister Fiona Hyslop claimed the decision to take the service into public ownership came amidst "substantial uncertainty regarding future market conditions and the pace and impact of the UK government's rail reform process".

The sleeper service has been operating in various forms since 1873, and runs overnight trains between Scotland and London.

A Transport Scotland spokesperson said: “While cancellations represented less than 3 per cent of all services (Sept 2023 to Sept 2024), it is only right that passengers are compensated when disruption does occur. Right time Caledonian Sleeper arrivals have also improved to over 88 per cent (from 81 per cent), well above the GB average.

“The latest ORR passenger satisfaction results show that almost 90% of Caledonian Sleeper guests were satisfied with their overall experience, with complaints (934) representing just 0.2 per cent of the almost 400,000 journeys made since the Caledonian Sleeper came into public sector control. Indeed, the latest ORR figures also show that complaints were down by 39 per cent in the 12-month reporting period (April 2023 to March 2024) in comparison to the 12 months prior - demonstrating a significant downward trend during public sector ownership.

“These often-repeated references to already well-recorded past disruption once again fail to acknowledge not only these improvements, but also that many cancellations are not within Caledonian Sleeper’s control. It is clear that public ownership is making a difference to Caledonian Sleeper, its passengers, and its staff – anyone with a genuine interest in its services would acknowledge this.”