Author: Mark Johnson

We have teamed up with Mackie’s of Scotland to grant one lucky winner and their plus one an unforgettable railway experience aboard the Caledonian Sleeper and a year’s supply of chocolate and ice-cream.

Prize winners will receive a welcome bottle of champagne upon arrival and enjoy a return trip in either a Caledonian Double or Club room between any Caledonian Sleeper destinations of their choice.

The prize includes:

• A welcome bottle of champagne;
• A return trip in a Caledonian Double or Club room between any Caledonian Sleeper destinations;
• 26 x Mackie’s ice cream 1ltr vouchers (a tub every two weeks); and
• 52 x 120 g Mackie’s chocolate bars (a bar a week).

To be in with a chance of winning, participants must submit their entry on Mackie’s website by Saturday 30th September.

All passengers on board Caledonian Sleeper services will receive a ticket with a QR code which links to the competition.

Steven Marshall, Caledonian Sleeper’s Head of Sales & Marketing, said “Thanks to Mackie’s our guests have been enjoying a sweet taste of Scotland onboard since we launched our partnership last year. We are delighted to be evolving our tie-up with Mackie’s and to give a lucky winner the chance to win a fantastic prize which could bookend a beautiful holiday or an overdue visit to family and friends at the other side of the UK.”

Stuart Common, Sales and Marketing Director at Mackie’s of Scotland, said: “To celebrate Mackie’s partnership with Caledonian Sleeper, we’ve launched this fun competition to give one lucky person the chance to experience a trip on the service. Seeing Mackie’s bars of chocolate touring the UK has been fantastic and we’re delighted to be providing a taste of Scotland during the trip. If you have an interest in trains, travelling or chocolate then this is the competition for you!”

The competition will run from the 1^st August to 30th September 2023.

Enter now here!

Terms and conditions apply.

A charity that provides vital support to children and young people found at risk on the UK rail network, Railway Children, has welcomed a £5,000 donation from Caledonian Sleeper.

The donation will be used to fund Railway Children’s new Glasgow based project, which brings together the rail industry and British Transport Police to support vulnerable young people in the area who are finding sanctuary on the rail network or risk being exploited when they use it.

In April, we launched launched a limited-edition single cask single malt whisky to celebrate 150 years of Scotland to London sleeper services and committed to donate the profits from the sale of its 70cl bottles to Railway Children. With only 200 in existence, the individually numbered bottles sold out in under a month, raising a total of £5,000 for the charity.

Kathryn Darbandi, Managing Director for Caledonian Sleeper, said: “It’s so important that the vulnerable children and young people using our railway network get the care and support they need. As a proud member of the rail industry, this cause is close to our hearts, and we hope our donation today helps make a difference in Glasgow.

“Glasgow Central Station is one of the main transport hubs we service and so, it felt only right that our donation should go towards funding Railway Children’s vital new project in the city.”

Railway Children supports at risk children and young people who could be using the UK railway network for various reasons, such as running away from home or care, meeting up with someone who might be planning to cause them harm or being exploited in County Lines drug running activity.

Following the success of projects in London, Yorkshire, the West Midlands and the Northwest of England, the new Glasgow project marks Railway Children’s first venture into Scotland.

The charity will provide direct support to vulnerable young people in Glasgow identified through referrals from British Transport Police. They will deliver a range of services based on individual needs, including welfare visits, parental and family support.

Railway Children will also offer training for rail staff in Glasgow to help them protect vulnerable young people, while holding regular meetings with the local Safeguarding Action Group to identify the specific needs and context in Glasgow.

Jack Miller, Group Director of Fundraising & Marketing at Railway Children, commented: “We’re thrilled that Caledonian Sleeper has chosen to raise money for our cause. Our new Glasgow project will allow us to cast our safety net into Scotland and support even more young people. This donation will help get the project up and running.”

In addition to the donation made to Railway Children today, Caledonian Sleeper will also donate one of the 200 limited edition 70cl whisky bottles to the Scottish loneliness and animal charity Give a Dog a Bone, to be auctioned later in the year as part of fundraising efforts.

We’ve improved our booking engine to make it easier for you to book a unique way to travel. Below are a list of some of the new features we’ve added to our website.

New booking widget

We’ve made it easier for you to select all the booking options available, including children, adding a railcard, adding a bike, or pet to your journey.

Book larger groups

You can now book groups of up to 8 people in a single transaction.

Accommodation selection

We now have a list of features available at a glance for our accommodation options. You can also see when our scheduled boarding and arrival times are too!

We’ve added accessible booking options

For the first time we can offer guests with accessible needs the opportunity to book online.

In the accommodation selection section if you check the accessible options button (shown below) you can toggle the view for our accessible rooms.

This will show our three options for accessible travel – Accessible Double, Accessible Twin and the Seat and Wheelchair space in our seated coach.

We’ve added month view

Now you can check availability on a calendar, allowing you to check availability and price differences around your selected date.

You can access the calendar view by clicking on the “show more dates button” shown below:

This will give you an overview with prices available for the whole month around your selected dates including availability and pricing as shown below:

We’ve improved our room and seat picker

When you have selected your accommodation type and added your guest details, on our review page (shown below) you have the options to select your room on the train (subject to availability).

On this page click on the change room button (shown below)

This will take you to our room picker page (shown below)

If you click on the “edit” button on the right hand side (circled in red in the image below) you will open the room/seat picker.

You can then select the room of your choice (subject to availability).

When you have selected your room you will see a message saying “changed successfully” as shown below:

You can then select the “save selection” option (button shown below) to confirm your selection..

You will then be able to review your whole order before making payment.

Watch our video of how to use seat picker below: