Rail Service Between North East & Edinburgh.
New rail service to start between North East, London, and Edinburgh. The Lumo service is part of First Group, and aims to entice air passengers to switch to rail with cheaper prices and a greener service.
A new rail service running between Edinburgh, the North East and London is promising low fares and greener travel as it aims to encourage people to ditch air travel.
The Lumo service will run five trains a day in each direction between Edinburgh, Morpeth, Newcastle, Stevenage and London.
Single fares will start from as little as £14.90, with the service from First Group aiming to attract a million passengers a month.
First Group first won permission to run trains on the East Coast mainline in open access agreement in 2016. It has invested £15m on digital and IT infrastructure and £100m on the manufacture and maintenance of five new electric trains from Hitachi in County Durham.
Services start on October 25, with their frequency increasing over time to a maximum of 10 services per day by early next year.
Managing director Helen Wylde said: “Travelling in the UK should not cost a fortune and it certainly shouldn’t be the planet that pays. Whatever your preferred mode of transport, we are likely to be more affordable and kinder to the planet. We believe everyone has the right to travel in style. We are empowering people to make green travel choices that are genuinely affordable without compromising on comfort.”
Lumo, whose name is said to be a combination of illumination and motion aims to contribute £250m to the economy in the next 10 years and create more than 100 new jobs.
Its service will only have a single class of seats, with the company saying everyone will get more legroom and larger tray tables.
Lumo intends to publish its carbon emissions data on a regular basis and is also aiming to burnish its green credentials by having 50% of its catering menu plant-based, while staff uniforms are responsibly sourced and paper waste has been reduced by a digital-first policy.
Lumo has also invested £2m in a training academy to develop a fresh-thinking generation of rail staff.
Source: Business Live