Serco bids farewell to Caledonian Sleeper service
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Tonight will see the last Caledonian Sleeper service run under Serco’s management.
It is handing over the service to the Scottish Government which has terminated the contract seven years early.
Serco's franchise expires eight years and three months since its inaugural service departed from Fort William on March 31 2015.
John Whitehurst, managing director of Serco’s transport business, said the were "immensely proud" of everything they had achieved since being awarded the contract to run the Caledonian Sleeper.
"During the eight years since Serco’s inaugural services departed, we have brought about massive improvements to every aspect of the service for our employees, our passengers and for Scotland, despite having made significant losses on the contract," he said.
"These improvements have been an extraordinary achievement by everyone involved in running the service and we are grateful to everyone for their hard work, and we wish them all good luck and a great future.
"We hand the Caledonian Sleeper over to the Scottish Government in great shape, secure in the knowledge that this is now a world class service that represents the best of Scotland."
Serco said in addition to the introduction in 2019 of a £150 million fleet of 75 new carriages bringing new levels of comfort and service, with ensuite berths and double beds and a brasserie-style Club car, the company had transformed the on-board food and drink using local Scottish suppliers, improved marketing and sales with a new booking website allowing passengers to book up to 12 months in advance and introduced hospitality facilities at stations.
It said the Caledonian Sleeper was today one of the top performing train operators in the country with 2022 being the best year ever for the service as it recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The year saw the highest revenue since the start of the franchise with guest levels back to pre-covid.
Serco added the performance on right time arrival had outperformed its franchise obligation of 80 per cent while the guest satisfaction score reached 90 per cent against a target of 85 per cent.
Employee satisfaction scored 69, an increase of 16 points on the 2021 score.
From Sunday, the Caledonian Sleeper services will be provided by the Scottish Government.
