You may well be familiar with the name Lumo. If you read Northen Insight Issue 103, then you might recall we reviewed a journey on one of their trains to London - yes, thats right - they're the train operator with the shiny blue trains.
Lumo is what’s known as an open access operator. That means, unlike the contracted train operators such as Northern or LNER, Lumo makes its money solely through ticket sales and doesn’t receive financial support from the government. The company operates independently and can offer competition.
If you catch a train from Newcastle to London, you now have a choice: you can use the government-operated LNER or Lumo. Open access operators can offer more options and services – take Lumo’s sister company, Hull Trains, as an example. Before they started up in 2000, there was only one train a day each way between Hull and London. Now there are eight return services each weekday – and Lumo has increased choice and capacity on the Newcastle to London route by adding five daily return services to the timetable.
The services have proved successful and train operators on the East Coast Main Line have seen the biggest recovery in passenger numbers after Covid in the UK. Lumo has carried over 2 million customers since it launched in October 2021 and it already has plans to expand. The company has submitted proposals to the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) for a new train service from Rochdale to London. If approved, brand new British-built trains could start running in 2027.
The Lumo trains which service Newcastle also run north to Morpeth and Edinburgh but there are plans to extend services to Glasgow, giving even more options for travellers from the North East. In fact, a significant number of Lumo passengers travelling from the North East to Edinburgh change trains there to travel to Glasgow. A new direct service would make that journey even easier.
Lumo Managing Director Martijn Gilbert, said: “We are very pleased to be looking at options to grow our popular Lumo train service by extending the service from Edinburgh to Glasgow from next year. We have seen the level of growth and opportunity that is possible with new open access connections, including the significant environmental benefits of passengers switching to rail. We will be working closely with stakeholders as we refine this opportunity and our case for this new offering.”
What about the fares? Let’s be honest – that’s what puts some people off train travel. Lumo claims it offers value for money so let’s put that to the test.
Here’s an example: Let’s look at weekend fares for a family of 2 adults and 2 children with a Friends and Family railcard. At the time of writing, return tickets from Newcastle to London, leaving on Saturday 26 October and returning the next day ranged from £139.90 to £211. The cheapest option was to travel on Lumo’s 0712 Newcastle to London train and the ticket gives an option of returning on a few LNER trains on the Sunday for a total of £139.90. The price breakdown shows that Lumo is cheaper – charging £57.90 for a one-way fixed ticket with the LNER family single on the return journey making up the other £82.
Lumo trains have a single class of accommodation on board – the trains don’t have first class and standard class. The company’s managing director, Martijn Gilbert, commented: “Our open access model focuses on giving good value fares and really good quality service and gives customers choice.”
It seems that this North East based company is not resting on its laurels and, if the plans are approved, we could see more of the shiny blue Lumo trains travelling to new destinations.
www.lumo.co.uk