Rail takes on air as Lumo celebrates first birthday
LUMO, THE Firstgroup-backed East Coast Main Line open access operator, celebrated its first anniversary at the end of October, having carried almost a million passengers on its services since launch and attracting more passengers onto the railway rather than travelling by air. Newcastle-based Lumo was launched in a blaze of publicity on October 25, 2021, claiming that the company wanted to ‘re-imagine rail’. It runs its services on the ECML between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley, using a fleet of five Hitachi Class 803 five-coach electric trains.
The open access agreement allows the company to usually only call at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth en route, with five daily services operating along the ECML between London and Edinburgh during the week in each direction.
It has been keen to promote its environmental credentials, with rail being much more environmentally friendly than domestic airlines between the two capital cities.
Since the introduction of its full timetable in April, Lumo states that it has helped to make rail the favoured mode of transport between Edinburgh and London for the first time. Between April and August, 57% of journeys between the two cities were made by rail, compared with a pre-pandemic position of 35% between April and August in 2019. Some 66% of travellers chose rail over domestic flights in August itself.
Lumo’s fleet of Hitachi Class 803 trains has also proved to be successful in terms of reliability in the year since it first entered passenger service, becoming the most reliable out-of-the-box train that Hitachi Rail has ever delivered in the UK. Lumo is the first UK open access operation to launch with a completely new train fleet.
Hitachi’s head of UK & Ireland, Jim Brewin, said: “In just 12 months the Lumo fleet has become the most reliable Hitachi has ever launched in the UK. Being both incredibly reliable and 100% electric encourages the shift to rail required to meet net zero. “The success of this British built train is recognition of the hard work from everyone at Lumo, Firstrail, Beacon Rail and Hitachi colleagues at our UK depots and North East factory.”
Lumo says it has now run more than 2500 services on the ECML in its first year – the equivalent of about 4125 full flights carrying 180 people – with the operator’s one-millionth passenger carried in November, just after the operator’s first anniversary. Average loadings on Lumo services have been 86% and average ticket prices are £37.
Lumo’s recently appointed managing director, Martijn Gilbert, said: “The increase in rail’s share of passengers between London and Edinburgh demonstrates value Lumo has brought to the East Coast Main Line. Not only have we attracted passengers to greener transport, we have noticed that other operators have also increased their market share. Together we have convinced the public that the convenience, price, and environmental impact of rail is worth it.
“It is vital for the economy to have an affordable and sustainable means to travel long distances. I know we have opened up the route for people for the first time just by being cheaper than the alternatives previously available. Lumo has not changed passenger habits on its own – but the rail network has proven its value, comfort, and convenience to passengers convincingly.”
Firstgroup owns two of the open access operators on the ECML, with Lumo and Hull Trains both controlled by the public transport giant. The principal operator on the ECML is LNER, and Grand Central also operates as an open access operator on the East Coast route.
Further Reading: Birth of a train operator (Railways Illustrated issue 232).