Caledonian Sleeper passengers on £400-a-night train unable to wash or go to toilet after being left without running water

Despite forking out for a night aboard the plush service some pssengers were unable to have a shower or flush thier toilet.

Fed-up passengers paid £400 for an overnight stay on the luxury Caledonian Sleeper train but were unable to wash and had to use a communal toilet after being left without running water throughout their 12-hour journey.

Punters travelling from Inverness Station to London at 8:30pm on Friday, April 12, learned as they boarded that some compartments would be without water in their private sleeping compartments.

That meant they couldn't have a shower and were left unable to flush, or use, their toilet throughout the trip to Euston Station in London.

Speaking to the Record, Ian Barratt, 81, from Maldon in Essex, who was returning with his wife from a three-day visit to Inverness, said by the time morning arrived he sat down for breakfast "unshaven, unwashed and thirsty."

He explained how staff had to direct elderly passengers down a long corridor just to use the toilet, and the only mitigation taken was to hand out spring water.

Ian said: "Embarrassed staff, willing and helpful though they were, suggested that passengers could use the few general passenger toilets situated on the express, but for some people that required a long trek along a narrow corridor on a train which stretches several hundred yards in length.

"One passenger claimed he had suffered a similar plight on four previous trips. A company spokesman apologised for the inconvenience but explained that the only maintenance depot was in London, so there was nothing else they could do but hand out cans of spring water."

Ian and his wife both paid £800 for a return ticket and he hit out at managment for the fiasco.

He says staff on the train were shocked to learn that passengers had not been advised about the issue prior to boarding.

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Ian added: “A member of staff seemed surprised that I had not been given prior warning of the problem, but the first I knew was when we were about to board the train at 8.30.

“This kind of situation isn't what one expects after paying over £800 for a return ticket. I feel this was a management failing.

"It is obviously it isn't the first time this kind of thing has happened and a lack of regular maintenance looks a possible cause"

Caledonian Sleeper has been approached for comment.

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