Lumo is a British open-access operator owned by

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

between and . It is headquartered in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

. Lumo originated in 2015 with the submission of a bid by FirstGroup to the

Office of Rail and Road The Office of Rail and Road (ORR) is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the economic and safety regulation of Britain's railways, and the economic monitoring of National Highways. ORR regulates Network Rail by setting its ...

(ORR) to establish a new open-access operator to use additional rail paths on

East Coast Main Line The East Coast Main Line (ECML) is a electrified railway between its northern terminus at and southern terminus at . The key towns and cities of , , , , and are on the line. The line is a key transport artery on the eastern side of Grea ...

. It faced competition from Alliance Rail Holdings, whose bid was rejected due to high estimated revenue abstraction from the existing franchised operator. In May 2016, the ORR granted a ten-year track access agreement to the FirstGroup subsidiary ''East Coast Trains Limited'', which would later be rebranded as Lumo. During March 2019, a £100million order for five

electric multiple unit An electric multiple unit or EMU is a multiple-unit train consisting of self-propelled carriages using electricity as the motive power. An EMU requires no separate locomotive, as electric traction motors are incorporated within one or a number o ...

high speed trains was placed to operate Lumo's services. Lumo's inaugural service was conducted on 25 October 2021. Initial operations involved the running of two trains per day in each direction on most week days; this was expanded to five trains per day by early 2022. Onboard catering is available, consisting of an at-seat trolley service, while an identical all-standard class two-by-two seating arrangement is present in every carriage.

History

During 2015, in response to an announcement by the

(ORR) that it would be allowing open-access operators to bid for additional rail paths on the

in addition to those of the existing franchised operator

Virgin Trains East Coast Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC) (legal name East Coast Main Line Company Limited) was a train operating company in the United Kingdom that operated the InterCity East Coast franchise on the East Coast Main Line between London, Yorkshire, the No ...

(VTEC), the British transport conglomerate

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.standard class seating with an average ticket price of approximately £25. A competing application from Alliance Rail Holdings was also submitted, but was rejected by the ORR after the revenue abstraction (i.e. reduction in existing company's revenue as a result of the new operation) from VTEC had been estimated at £115million; in comparison, FirstGroup's proposal was predicted to result in £7.9million of abstracted revenue. During May 2016, the ORR granted a ten-year track access agreement to the FirstGroup subsidiary ''East Coast Trains Limited'', under which it would be allowed to operate up to five services in each direction from May 2021. It would be the third such open access operator on the East Coast Main Line, the prior two being

Hull Trains Hull Trains is an open access operator, open-access railway operator in England owned by the multinational transport company FirstGroup. It operates long-distance passenger services between Hull Paragon Interchange, Hull Paragon / Beverley rai ...

and Grand Central. It was acknowledged at the time of the application's granting that services were not expected to commence until 2021, to allow the new operator to acquire new-build rolling stock. In September 2021, the company's launch was confirmed alongside the adoption of the ''Lumo'' brand, which was described by the company as a combination of ''luminosity'' (Lu) and ''motion'' (mo). Two months later, Lumo moved to its permanent headquarters in

. During June 2022, it was announced that Martijn Gilbert had been appointed as the new managing director for both Lumo and Hull Trains, succeeding Phil Cameron and David Gibson respectively. In February 2024, the company announced they were in discussions to extend some of their Edinburgh services further to Glasgow. In May 2024, the company announced plans to run services from London Euston to via , from 2027, subject to ORR approval. In December 2024, following FirstGroup's acquisition of Grand Union Trains, it was announced the proposed to service would be operated by Lumo, comprising five return services daily. In addition to this, an application was submitted to the ORR for track access rights to operate five return services daily between London Paddington and , along with a sixth path to . In June 2025, following FirstGroup's acquisition of Grand Union Trains, it was announced that the proposed - service would be operated under the Lumo brand, calling at , , , , , , , , , and Stirling, expected to commence in mid-2026. Four return services are expected to operate Monday-Saturday, with three on Sunday. An additional return service between Preston and London Euston will also operate.

Services

On 26 May 2021, the first trial runs of the company's high speed multiple units on the national rail network were conducted. On 25 October 2021, the inaugural service commenced; initially, Lumo operated two trains per day in each direction on most week days, although Saturdays saw only one train being run for a time. From the onset of operations, the service rate was set to be progressively increased up to running five trains each way by early 2022. At launch, Lumo promised that 60% of fares would be offered for no more than £30, with a cap of £69 on one-way tickets. According to the company, ticket sales around the launch date had exceeded expectations, and it had experienced particularly high demand for its weekend services. , Lumo's timetable sees trains depart each terminus at off-peak times. The vast majority of journeys run the full route from Edinburgh to London, calling at and . A number of services additionally call at , for pick-up only on northbound services, and drop-off only for southbound trains. The fastest service reaches London from Edinburgh in four hours and three minutes, although the majority take around four hours and 30 minutes.

Operations

Lumo offers a single-class service, with free

Wi-Fi Wi-Fi () is a family of wireless network protocols based on the IEEE 802.11 family of standards, which are commonly used for Wireless LAN, local area networking of devices and Internet access, allowing nearby digital devices to exchange data by ...

connectivity for all passengers. The company promotes itself as a “digital-first” operator, emphasising its focus on paperless ticketing options and its website. It also participates in the

National Rail National Rail (NR) is the trading name licensed for use by the Rail Delivery Group, a group representing passenger train operating companies (TOCs) of England, Scotland, and Wales. The TOCs run the passenger services previously provided by ...

system and accepts interoperable tickets. Onboard catering is available, consisting of an at-seat trolley service, while additional food and drink items from brands such as

Marks & Spencer Marks and Spencer plc (commonly abbreviated to M&S and colloquially known as Marks & Sparks or simply Marks) is a major British multinational retailer based in London, England, that specialises in selling clothing, beauty products, home produc ...

are available for pre-order by passengers for delivery mid-service. Efforts have been made to cater to as diverse a range of dietary requirements as possible; around 50 per cent of all food serviced is plant-based, while the use of meat and dairy products has been intentionally minimised. An identical two-by-two seating arrangement is fitted throughout all five carriages; a pair of table seating per carriage is also available. These ergonomically designed wingback seats are furnished with various amenities, including individual lighting and electric sockets, fold-down tables, and shaping to provide a greater sense of privacy. Priority seats are also present, along with two spaces for

wheelchair A wheelchair is a mobilized form of chair using two or more wheels, a footrest, and an armrest usually cushioned. It is used when walking is difficult or impossible to do due to illnesses, injury, disabilities, or age-related health conditio ...

users, on each train. Various forms of media content, including films and television shows, can be streamed by passengers using the company's

mobile app A mobile application or app is a computer program or software application designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone, phone, tablet computer, tablet, or smartwatch, watch. Mobile applications often stand in contrast to desktop appli ...

Rolling stock

Current

Services are operated by a fleet of

trains, ordered in March 2019 at a cost of £100million, financed by the rail leasing company Beacon Rail. While based on the same Hitachi AT300 design as the trains operated on the East Coast Main Line by franchised operator

London North Eastern Railway London North Eastern Railway (LNER) is a British train operating company which operates most services on the East Coast Main Line. It is owned by DfT Operator for the Department for Transport (DfT). The company's name echoes that of the Londo ...

(LNER), they are not fitted with an auxiliary diesel engine, but instead feature batteries intended solely to power onboard facilities in case of overhead line equipment failure. Other changes include an all-standard class seating configuration, as well as the lack of a

galley A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...

area, although catering services are provided through the use of a trolley service. The Class 803 also features

air conditioning Air conditioning, often abbreviated as A/C (US) or air con (UK), is the process of removing heat from an enclosed space to achieve a more comfortable interior temperature, and in some cases, also controlling the humidity of internal air. Air c ...

, power sockets and

provision.

Future

On 6 December 2024,

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Hitachi AT300 Class 80x units for its growing open access operations. These will be used on the - services and to strengthen Lumo and

services from . On 2 June 2025,

FirstGroup FirstGroup plc is a British multi-national transport group, based in Aberdeen, Scotland.Eversholt Rail for 5 existing trains in order to serve the new - service, with services expected to commence in mid-2026.

Accidents and incidents

On 17 April 2022, a Lumo-operated Class 803 passed through a set of points at Peterborough railway station at where there was a speed restriction of . Some passengers were thrown from their seats and sustained minor injuries. The Rail Accident Investigation Branch opened an investigation into the incident.

References

External links

* * {{UK TOCs, current, state=collapsed FirstGroup railway companies Open-access train operating companies Railway companies established in 2021 British companies established in 2015 Low-cost high-speed rail services