William Crossley spends a comfortable night slumbering aboard the Night Riveria to Plymouth

A dazzling headlight cutting through the dark heralds the arrival of the Night Riviera sleeper train at Par station before the locomotive and coaches painted in FGW’s familiar deep blue livery pull in.

As I look for coach E, a steward leaning out of the window says “Mr Crossley?” as it rolls past. While I’m the only sleeping car passenger joining at Par, four others make for the two coaches with reclining seats which bring up the rear of the train.

Guided to my cabin, I am given a quick rundown on where to find light switches, the washbasin – hidden under a shelf – and the air conditioning controls and asked when I would like a wake-up call and whether I want tea or coffee and breakfast.

There are two toilets at the ends of each coach and you don’t need to worry about using them in stations – the sleeping cars were the first British trains to be fitted with waste retention tanks.

There is even a TV – the Volo TV system familiar from FGW’s High Speed Trains – but with the clock fast approaching 11pm and the train due into London bright and early, I opt for bed.

Had I fancied a late-night snack, or a nightcap, the attendant could offer room service from the sleeper train’s cafe menu, while another option is to visit the lounge car provided for sleepier passengers.

Passengers from the two seated coaches can also use the sleeper cafe.

The current incarnation of the Night Riviera dates back 30 years, when the current sleeping cars were introduced, but there have been overnight trains on the route between London and the West Country since 1877, when the Great Western Railway ran broad gauge sleeping cars with two dormitories, one with seven men’s berths and the other four berths for women.

The Night Riviera faced the threat of withdrawal in the middle of the last decade but a campaign led by passengers from Cornwall secured its future. Passenger numbers have risen by 10 per cent a year since 2008, with 30,000 journeys a year now being made on the overnight service.

While it normally has four sleeping cars, the train to Cornwall on Friday nights and the train to London on Sundays now have five sleeping cars to meet demand from weekend travellers.

And as part of FGW’s new contract to operate the region’s trains for another two years, agreed with the Government earlier in the autumn, an extra sleeping car and an extra seated coach will be provided to meet demand at the busiest times of the year.

I had a single-berth compartment all to myself but there are also compartments for two passengers, with a bunkbed-style arrangement, though these do not have TVs.

Tucked up under the duvet, I drifted off to sleep on the way to Plymouth. There’s no need to worry about being bounced out of bed, as the train proceeds at a pace best described as stately, partly to give passengers a comfortable night, but also because the train operates to a leisurely schedule to allow for it taking a variety of routes between London and Exeter, depending on the demands of overnight engineering work.

The London-bound service leaves Penzance at 9.45pm from Monday to Friday and is due into Paddington just after 5.20am, but the coaches stay in the station until 7am, allowing passengers to sleep in if they wish. The westbound service leaves London at 11.45pm and reaches Penzance at 7.53am.

On Sunday night the westbound train leaves London at 11.50pm, reaching Penzance at 9am the next morning, while the eastbound train leaves Penzance at 9.15pm and reaches London at 5.06am. The Night Riviera does not run on Saturday nights.

I was woken, as promised, at 6am, with a pot of tea and a warm bacon baguette delivered at the same time.

Sleeping car passengers can use the showers at Paddington station if they want to freshen up ready for work or their onward journey.

For more information about the Night Riviera, see firstgreatwestern.co.uk/ Your-journey/Night-Riviera-Sleeper
Video link www.youtube.com/ watch?v=i-uULNSjKio

Monday to Friday
Departs London Paddington at 23.45 Arrives at Penzance 07.53
Your route
London Paddington, Reading, Taunton, Exeter St Davids, Newton Abbot, Totnes, Playmouth, Liskeard, Bodmin Parkway, Lostwithiel, Par, St Austell, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle, St Erth, Penzance
Prices
Super off Peak Single – Single (1 person) – £110.50
Super off Peak Return – Single (1 person) – £205