lumo. FirstGroup's open access operation on ECML

[whole diary]

[JayMac]

FirstGroup plan to begin operating their open access services on the East Coast Mainline, between London Kings Cross and Edinburgh Waverley next month, from Monday October 25th 2021.

The train company will be branded lumo (legally East Coast Trains), and they will eventually operate 5 daily services each way between the Scottish and English capitals. There will be intermediate stops at Stevenage, Newcastle and Morpeth. On launch day they are starting with two services each way.

Lumo will use 5 car electric Class 803 sets which will be standard class only. Catering will be provided at seat, with pre-ordering via app available, including ordering from 3rd parties such as M&S. Beverages and light snacks will also be available from an onboard trolley service.

The website is live although it doesn't yet appear that lumo services have been uploaded to the booking engine.

https://www.lumo.co.uk/

For the first five weeks of operation, until 1st December 2021, fares will be a maximum of £19.90 if booked up to 2359 on the day before travel. Longer term, fares will start at £14.90 one way, with 60% of tickets costing less than £30.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/new-edinburgh-london-rail-service-24919307

[grahame]

From the always-positive Mail Online

The Ryanair of the RAILS: New budget train operator Lumo offers £20 fares from London to Edinburgh on launch day (but it's still cheaper to fly via BUDAPEST)
* Fixed-price advance fares from London to Edinburgh will cost less than £20 when Lumo launches next month
* It is only £18 to fly between them via Budapest with WizzAir, or £23 for Ryanair from Stansted via Gothenburg
* Low-cost train fares will provide competition to London North Eastern Railway's (LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about)) slightly faster service
* Lumo's prices will be more in line with those on coaches and are expected to fall to £14.90 in the coming days

Do the airline prices quoted include transfer from Central London and to Princes Street?  Or have they just included the bus costs for ENCTS^▸ (English National Concessionary Travel Scheme) card holders using local buses after 09:30, and how would that effect the timing?

What's the carbon footprint of each option?  Would Daily Mail readers care?

[ChrisB]

The article states LNER^» (London North Eastern Railway - about) ‘slightly faster journey’….while the graphic clearly states the opposite!….well, it is the Daily Fail.it is likely to put the coach services out of business, I reckon.

The air fares aren’t comparable as you can take luggage for free on the train services. Luggage on any of those flights will likely cost more than the fare quoted!

[broadgage]

I would have preferred that first group had concentrated their efforts on running the GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) and SWR^» (South Western Railway - about) franchises better than has recently been achieved.

Leaving that aside I am in favour of competition and lower fares.

The train option would be far preferable to air WRT^▸ (with regard to ) carbon footprint. Even a diesel train is better than air, and an electric train better still. And that is for direct flights, via Europe at more than twice the mileage and with twice the take offs must be even worse than direct air.

[jdw.wor]

And the fares quoted are singles. My experience suggests that trying to get cheap return air fares for super cheap outward fares is rather difficult!
If you price your own time Lumo v WhizzAir for the difference in journey times (approx 6.5 hours) you get to an almost Victorian rate of c30p an hour

[Electric train]

The Daily Fail's comparison is not comparing apples with apples more apples with onions, Lumo yes is more expensive than the flight via Budapest the rail journey takes half the time of the flight via Budapest.

Currently you do not need to pay for a Covid test to travel anywhere in the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) but travelling outside of the UK you have to pay for 2  Covid tests

[IndustryInsider]

Press launch today.

[Bmblbzzz]

Good to see this and be reminded of its existence. I can see myself using it some time as am supposed to be taking the boy up to Edinburgh (from Bristol) and looks like via London might, perhaps, be better than direct.

[Timmer]

Good to see this and be reminded of its existence. I can see myself using it some time as am supposed to be taking the boy up to Edinburgh (from Bristol) and looks like via London might, perhaps, be better than direct.

Possibly cheaper as well. XC^▸ (Cross Country Trains (franchise)) fares are ridiculous now, unless you break them up into lots of little pieces.

[TaplowGreen]

.......this tweet from Lumo is causing some lively debate elsewhere, as to whether they can legally turn away walk up customers?

3 days to go until launch and we're completely sold out for next week. Due to the overwhelming response, you can only travel with Lumo from 25/10/21 to 01/12/21 if you have an existing seat reservation. Thanks to everyone who’s booked, we can’t wait to welcome you onboard!

[stuving]

Lumo has made a medium-sized thing of having just one class, and even having two classes is often criticised as out of date here in Britain. Meanwhile, over on the Paris-Lyon route, Trenitalia are due to start an open access service in December, and SNCF^▸ (Societe Nationale des Chemins de fer Francais - French National Railways) have announced their commercial response. But here, both operators have been adding new posher than first classes to compete with each other.

Trenitalia have not yet set a starting date, but their Frecciarossa trains will have Standard, Premium, Affaires + Bistro, Business, and Executive. SNCF will keepp the inOui brand but the trains will be new, offering just one new class - Business premiere - as well as première and deuxième.

Clearly there is more than one way to pretend a train is an aeroplane, though mangling several languages together is compulsory. None of these trains will offer unreserved seats - that's so obvious that you are unlikely to see it mentioned. Tickets with a reservations will be available, and changeable, down boarding time, with variations in flexibility with price and competition over how easy this flexibility is to use.

[stuving]

Trenitalia have not yet set a starting date, but their Frecciarossa trains will have Standard, Premium, Affaires + Bistro, Business, and Executive.

That was mangled in the source I took it from, where Premium was  an invention. Trenitalia's own terms for their classes in French are Executive, Business, Standard, plus there's a "sala meeting" which I think is an add-on to executive class.

[IndustryInsider]

An interesting, and new-to-the-railway, way of offering a decent catering choice is being provided on the Lumo services.

https://www.lumo.co.uk/onboard/lumoeats

[Richard Fairhurst]

That's not new to the railway. The Ffestiniog has been doing it for years.

[Lee]

The Man in Seat 61 takes you through the press launch and inaugural trip: