Forget it. The Caledonian Sleeper is not going to run through the Channel Tunnel

There's a higher chance that Scotland becomes independent, and joins the EU and Schengen, than the Caledonian Sleeper is extended through the Channel Tunnel under the current political framework.

Really.

I am not joking.

Whatever the SNP and The Scotsman might say.

I know a thing or two about the Channel Tunnel. I wrote a long and detailed report about it last year.

And that report did not cover night trains.

Because running long distance trains through the Channel Tunnel is complicated. And running night trains is also more complicated than daytime trains. Put those two together and you have such a thicket of complexity I cannot see a way to overcome it all.

Let's just list the issues.

First, passengers need to have passports controlled and bags scanned before boarding the train. Where are you going to do that in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and any interim stops? And oh yeah, you have to have French border guards in those places too, because of the rules of the juxtaposed controls. And who is going to pay the wages of those people? And don't tell me the UK will re-join the EU and join Schengen to solve this one. Dream on.

Second, existing Caledonian Sleeper carriages are not designed to run through the Channel Tunnel. I have no idea if they respect the fire safety rules, but they most definitely do not have doors and steps suitable for the 760mm platforms on HS1 and in Belgium and the Netherlands, and the 550mm platforms in France. UK platform height is generally 915mm, and even if you can step up from 760mm to 915mm, you are going to have a big gap as UK loading gauge is narrower. So at the very least you need to adapt existing rolling stock. Or, better still, buy some new. Good luck financing that!

Third, you will need to run the train through north London somewhere - off either the West Coast Main Line, the East Coast Main Line, or possibly the Midland Main Line, likely to use the heavily congested North London Line. Good luck getting a reliable path there!

Fourth, given Caledonian Sleeper stock is designed for 200km/h, it's going to result in trip times slower than a Eurostar on the London - Paris and London - Bruxelles sections. That means you will not likely get a path on high speed lines, meaning it will run slower still on old lines, making the trip time even more un-competitive.

Fifth, as a cumulation of all of those points, how are you possibly going to run this even semi-economically? The Channel Tunnel has very high track access costs. The Caledonian Sleeper, due to the restrictive loading gauge, has a very low capacity. So you are either going to have to hugely subsidise it, or it will be eye wateringly expensive to take.

And those are just the problems that spring to mind right away.

At least were Scotland to become independent, join the EU and Schengen, you could run this as a transit train through England without stopping, and hence avoid the border control headaches. Leaving you with only the four other problems.

Simples.

Oh and don't even go "But Nightstar!"

Jack Straw, September 11th, and UK border paranoia, Brexit, and that dude who is currently fighting a bin came in between. The UK, politically, is not what it was in the mid 1990s.

The obvious priority is to extend daytime services from London beyond Paris/Bruxelles/Amsterdam in a first phase, examine daytime services from other places in the UK in a second phase, and maybe then look at night trains. But looking at this now is complete bullshit. Sorry.

Image Rights
Train Photos - Caledonian Sleeper - July 2, 2019 - CC BY-SA 2.0