All aboard! Budget train service Lumo could be coming to Greater Manchester as part of expansion plans

Lumo says its services have helped to tilt the "modal share" of journeys between the two capitals - with more trips now being taken by train rather than plane

Low budget rail service, Lumo, plans to expand services from London, including doubling capacity on its flagship east coast route to Edinburgh via Newcastle. It also wants to launch a new service between Euston and Rochdale via Manchester Victoria.

The Manchester proposal is currently under review by the ORR and Network Rail due to competing bids for overlapping routes from other rail companies such as Virgin, with limited access at Euston. Rochdale has been without a direct train link to London since 2000.

However, the company has more concrete plans to expand its electric trains from five to ten carriages, operating both ways through King's Cross. Additionally, Lumo is set to introduce a new service from Paddington to Carmarthen, stopping at Bristol Parkway and Cardiff, starting December 2027.

In the next three months, Lumo aims to gain approval to extend its services from King's Cross to Glasgow, building upon its current Edinburgh route, and wants to add an extra daily round trip between Newcastle and London from December.

If given the green light, there will be three return trips each day connecting King's Cross and Glasgow via Edinburgh. As an "open access" operator that runs without Government subsidy, Lumo could potentially triple its offerings in the next few years if the rail regulator, the Office of Rail and Road (ORR), approves all proposed routes.

This development comes as many UK rail companies are facing renationalisation. Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has directed the ORR to consider how open access operators, like Lumo, might impact the revenues of other train services and exacerbate pressure on an "already constrained network capacity".

Since its inception three and a half years ago, the budget train operator Lumo has successfully transported more than four million passengers, operating five trains that provide 70 weekly services departing from and arriving at King’s Cross. Martijn Gilbert, the managing director of Lumo, outlined the company's mission to offer a service that "complements" the Government-run London North Eastern Railway (LNER) which is the mainline operator on the East Coast Main Line.

He likened their service to that of a "low-cost airline offer, but absolutely not lower quality". This year, Lumo is due to pay £8m in "access charges" to Network Rail for using the rail infrastructure.

According to Mr. Gilbert, open access operators like Lumo play a significant role in "filling gaps in the existing timetable" and introducing "healthy competition" within the railway sector.

Gilbert pointed out that Lumo fares are typically 30 per cent less expensive than those offered by LNER and stated: "We don't cost the taxpayer a single penny."

The presence of Lumo has been influential in shifting the "modal share" of travel between London and Edinburgh, with more people now opting for the train over the airplane for this inter-city journey.

Moreover, Lumo has also carved out a niche for international tourists who wish to experience "do Edinburgh in a day" by leaving King’s Cross on the first Lumo service at 5.48am and returning from Edinburgh on the 7.58pm train, reaching London at 1.05am. The trip between King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley goes through stops such as Stevenage, Newcastle, and Morpeth and takes approximately four hours and 20 minutes.

Additionally, it was approved to initiate a new route from Euston to Stirling, with services expected to commence next year.Lumo has expressed its intention to provide trains to areas that are "under served" or not connected.

Recently, Lumo submitted a bid to the ORR for a service between Paddington and Torbay via Bristol and Bath. This could potentially launch in 2028 and operate five return journeys daily.

Lumo's sister operator, Hull Trains, is awaiting a decision from the ORR on launching a new service between King's Cross and Sheffield. This would effectively be a new branch on its existing London to Hull route.

Both Lumo and Hull Trains are owned by First Group, which is set to see its Great Western Railway "franchise" renationalised in 2026.

Following First Group's acquisition of Grand Union Trains, which holds access rights for the new route into south Wales, Lumo was able to add the Euston to Stirling and Paddington to Carmarthen routes to its network and to operate four trains a day to and from Stirling via Preston.

Under a £500m contract, fourteen five-carriage trains have been ordered from Hitachi, and if the ORR approves Lumo's Rochdale and Devon proposals, a second order for 13 more trains, worth £460m, will be placed. Hull Trains has a contract that is set to run until 2032, while Lumo's east coast contract is due to run until 2033.