With rates starting at £15, a new railway company wants to compete with cheap flights between Edinburgh and London.
Lumo will begin operating on the East Coast mainline next month, with two services a day in each direction, before adding more excursions.
It will take roughly four and a half hours starting on October 25.
Lumo is operated by Aberdeen’s First Group, which says it “aims to reimagine what rail travel means.”
Booking at least one day in advance will save you £19.90 on every trip between October 25 and December 1. According to the company, railcards will not be accepted.
Even in today’s environmentally-conscious society, Lumo’s Helen Wylde believes that travel “shouldn’t cost a fortune.”
There is no compromise on comfort, she says. “We empower individuals to make green travel choices that are truly inexpensive.”
According to First Group, the Lumo services are expected to carry more than one million passengers annually.
First Group ordered a fleet of Hitachi AT300 trains in March 2019, which sparked the concept for Lumo. It will be able to run five trains a day in each direction as a “open access” operator on the railway system.
Lumo, who is targeting the air traffic business, adds that in addition to train travel emitting significantly fewer CO2 emissions than airplanes, airports are rarely city centre locations and sometimes require additional travel plans to get to the end destination. All tickets will only be available by email or mobile app, and there will be free wi-fi in the trains. Seating will be standard-class for everyone, with no first-class seating available.
A buffet car will not be part of the service, but the usual trolley service for beverages and snacks will be available. You can also purchase meals on the train from a variety of high-street chains if you pre-order it at least six hours before you go.
In addition to LumoFixed for specified train services and Anytime for any service on the date they are booked for, there will be two kinds of tickets.
This morning, after testing the booking process, it appeared that seat bookings were not available. More seats in one carriage will not be allocated, so they can be available for those who show up on the day – and for those who need to switch seats when they find one in the unreserved carriage that is more convenient.