When will Lumo (West Coast) start?

[pr1]

It is a good price the Lumo are offering.

I saw one of the 222s in Crewe on Thursday as I passed through on my TfW. So the 222s are out and about.

If you can afford to pay the Avanti price at the last minute should Lumo not run, gambling on the Lumo trains running and buying a Lumo-only ticket is not a bad idea. I do assume here that you get a refund if you buy for the 10th of July, but Lumo do not start the service then.

I'm hoping to travel to London in July and I'll look at Lumo as an option. Superfare is still an option with Avanti, of course.

 

[ScottGallagher]

Is it down to ORCATS why its not going to serve Lancaster, quite a big student population there , thought Lumo would have wanted to.

 

[Clarence Yard]

No, not that you would get much from ORCATS these days, thanks to dedicated fares.

The stopping pattern has a lot to do with connections as much as originating traffic. Too many stops and it becomes a glorified stopping service which doesn’t give you (the operator) the value you want.

 

[Bletchleyite]

If students at Lancaster want a bargain bucket service (though it may not work for them as students often have lots of luggage) very cheap Northern Advances to Preston to connect with it are usually available in decent numbers.

 

[py_megapixel]

it may not work for them as students often have lots of luggage

Do they? I would imagine most long-distance student train travel is visiting family for relatively short stays - e.g. a weekend during term time or a few weeks over Christmas - and thus travelling with just a rucksack and/or small suitcase of personal belongings.

Moving large amounts of stuff (e.g. when moving into halls of residence) is not really easily done on any public transport! Besides, in Lancaster the university is very far out from the town centre and I can't imagine most people wanting to travel on the bus to the station with more than Lumo's luggage allowance. Some buses have no designated luggage space at all!

 

[D6130]

Do they? I would imagine most long-distance student train travel is visiting family for relatively short stays - e.g. a weekend during term time or a few weeks over Christmas - and thus travelling with just a rucksack and/or small suitcase of personal belongings.

Many of them have a huge rucksack full of dirty washing which the take home at the weekend for Mum to wash and dry!

 

[davidrockyroad]

The first Stirling to London Euston service is due to run in May. Services are being released for sale in phases with the earliest currently on sale being the 22nd June and a full timetable available on July 27th.

From Spring 2026, Lumo will introduce a brand-new direct rail service linking Stirling and London Euston, expanding Scotland’s long-distance rail network and bringing affordable, open-access travel to more communities along the route.

Lumo themselves are currently stating that services will start in May but tickets are available for late June, and getting earlier!

Trains to Stirling | Trains to London Euston | Lumo

Plan your trip to Stirling with Lumo Trains! Discover a variety of things to do in and around the city. Book direct trains to Stirling at great prices with Lumo.

www.lumo.co.uk

 

[43102EMR]

Lumo themselves are currently stating that services will start in May but tickets are available for late June, and getting earlier!

Trains to Stirling | Trains to London Euston | Lumo

Plan your trip to Stirling with Lumo Trains! Discover a variety of things to do in and around the city. Book direct trains to Stirling at great prices with Lumo.

www.lumo.co.uk

Very bizarre how they haven’t released the May tickets considering the TTC is only less than a month away now, presumably they’re waiting for certainty regarding the Meridian refurbishment and crew training?

 

[JonathanH]

Very bizarre how they haven’t released the May tickets considering the TTC is only less than a month away now, presumably they’re waiting for certainty regarding the Meridian refurbishment and crew training?

When Lumo started on the Edinburgh route it did so with a reduced timetable, notably because not all units were available.

 

[Scotrail344Lad]

Well,They Are Available until the 22nd June

 

[davidrockyroad]

Well,They Are Available until the 22nd June

Now 9th June!

 

[318266]

They have released some of the May tickets. I have placed a booking for the 25th of May as my own personal test of the full service. Only the 1636 is bookable northbound.

 

[Scotrail344Lad]

Thanks for letting us know

 

[GilfachFargoed]

Monday 25th May now confirmed as the first day, with the 08:50 from Stirling and 16:36 from Euston. The timetable then builds over the following weeks as below (pasted here for the record, from https://www.lumo.co.uk/plan-your-journey/our-timetable).

25th May - 18th June
Weekdays: southbound 08:50 departure / northbound 16:36 departure
Saturdays: southbound 08:49 departure/ northbound 16:19 departure
Sundays: southbound 13:20 departure/ northbound 19:35 departure

19th June - 4th July
Weekdays: southbound 08:50 & 17:09 departure / northbound 10:16 & 16:36 departure
Saturdays: southbound 08:49 & 17:51 departure/ northbound 10:16 & 16:19 departure
Sundays: southbound from stirling: 13:20 departure
southbound from preston: 10:40 departure
northbound: 14:18 & 19:35 departure

5th July - 26th July
Weekdays: southbound from stirling: 08:50 12:22 & 17:09 departure
southbound from preston: 06:41 departure
northbound: 06:11, 10:19, 16:36 & 19:19 departure
Saturdays: southbound stirling: 08:49, 13:21 & 17:51 departure
southbound preston: 06:04 departure
northbound: 06:10, 10:19 & 16:19 departure
Sundays: southbound from stirling: 13:20 & 16:34 departure
southbound from preston: 10:40 departure
northbound: 08:22, 14:18 & 19:35 departure


Then the full timetable from 27th July.

 

[318266]

It appears I have somehow inadvertently booked myself in the cheapest bucket of the northbound maiden service... which for a bank holiday Monday is not bad work at all!

 

[warwickshire]

How will Lumo west coast be operated operationally please?.

1. Guarded full door control open close, with Customer service staff on board.
2. Driver only. But customer service staff on board .
3. Driver open, Guard Close doors, again with Customer service staff on board.

Thank You

 

[pokemonsuper9]

How will Lumo west coast be operated operationally please?.

1. Guarded full door control open close, with Customer service staff on board.
2. Driver only. But customer service staff on board .
3. Driver open, Guard Close doors, again with Customer service staff on board.

Thank You

Only a guess but I think given the presence of cameras appearing on 222601 (see below linked post), option 2 is the most likely (so matching the East Coast).

Class 222 from EMR to Polmadie

Carriage 60342 was on a low loader on the M62 heading west towards Widnes, near Warrington on Wednesday 28th. Circa 11:30 That’s the 3rd first class coach off 222002.

www.railforums.co.uk

 

[warwickshire]

Only a guess but I think given the presence of cameras appearing on 222601 (see below linked post), option 2 is the most likely (so matching the East Coast).

Class 222 from EMR to Polmadie

Carriage 60342 was on a low loader on the M62 heading west towards Widnes, near Warrington on Wednesday 28th. Circa 11:30 That’s the 3rd first class coach off 222002.

www.railforums.co.uk

Thank uou for the update,

 

[WolvertonWorks]

Not sure if this is the correct place to post this observation.

We were at Milton Keynes Central this morning waiting for a visitor to arrive by train and on the departure board there were a number of LNR trains.

The usual announcement about ticket validity when saying the next departure from platform X will be the LNR to Y "Tickets marked Avanti only are not valid on this train" has changed it now says "Tickets marked Avanti only and Lumo only are not valid on this train". I understand Lumo have started calling at MKC this week.

 

[318266]

I believe it came in over the weekend of 23/24 May, as it was not there when I passed it on the Gosh Ness Monster northbound on Fri 22nd, but was when I passed it southbound on Sun 24th, obviously all before the launch on Mon 25th!