North East Buses

Their first passenger carrying service should have just left Kings Cross, ahead of stops at Stevenage, Newcastle, Morpeth and Edinburgh.

(21 Oct 2021, 9:47 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]Their first passenger carrying service should have just left Kings Cross, ahead of stops at Stevenage, Newcastle, Morpeth and Edinburgh.

They carried friends and family last Sunday up to Edinburgh, with today's being the press. From what I've seen from Geoff Marshall on Twitter, their 803s look very good inside and well worth the cheap prices.

(21 Oct 2021, 3:44 pm)pbjd wrote [ -> ]They carried friends and family last Sunday up to Edinburgh, with today's being the press. From what I've seen from Geoff Marshall on Twitter, their 803s look very good inside and well worth the cheap prices.

Maninseat61 for me. Wasn't convinced about the race he had with Simon Calder mind.

(21 Oct 2021, 5:43 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]Maninseat61 for me. Wasn't convinced about the race he had with Simon Calder mind.

Where flying definitely won, but he got off at Haymarket and walked so it was a a draw just to stop Lumo getting a bad name before they start.

(21 Oct 2021, 8:23 pm)pbjd wrote [ -> ]Where flying definitely won, but he got off at Haymarket and walked so it was a a draw just to stop Lumo getting a bad name before they start.

Think the train was 10mins up at one point. 
Obviously no way that could be maintained. 

Agree that they had to let the train win particularly as they're specifically going after the airlines and Calder went via Glasgow too. 

On a slightly connected note, I watched Tim Dunn do his stuff on Saltburn recently. Our very own tyresmoke's 18 was hovering around in the background at one point.

It's all second class, so that's no from me.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61136024
Incident involving a Lumo set earlier this morning.

(17 Apr 2022, 7:27 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61136024
Incident involving a Lumo set earlier this morning.

There's speculation flying around that this is much more serious than Lumo is reporting. 

Supposedly the train was doing 80 mph+ through a set of points through Peterborough P1 where it's 30 mph.

Very lucky it wasn't much worse than it was.

Post deleted due to it containing internal railway log information which shouldn't be in the public domain

Had my first Lumo ride last week and I have to say I think I will continue to fly to EDI or get LNER first class. Only went Lumo as it was a very last minute journey and LNER prices were sky high and flights full.

First thing I noticed was there was no where near enough space for luggage (took people about 30 minutes from leaving Kings Cross to get everything sorted), seats for someone who is over 6ft were so uncomfortable and I couldn't reach into my bag to get things out of it, such as chargers and cables. The seats were hard, and for supposedly being angled at an ideal pitch, I just couldn't get comfortable and they seemed far too low. Legroom was also a huge issue - lot of which was taken up by my rucksack, which normally fits under my legs so I can stretch out - but due to the seat pitch I couldn't do this which rendered the 4-and-a-bit hour ride really uncomfortable. The seats had a really annoying support that meant you couldn't properly fit your bag under the seat in front which also was irritating and meant a good 45-minute shuffle to try and get somewhat comfortable.

The announcements onboard seemed like they had taken the BA script and altered it, minus "doors to automatic and cross-check". At one point we were held outside of Darlington (we were ahead of schedule) and the Customer Driver announced why we were waiting - even though we were perfectly on time. Same kind of message when we pulled into Kings Cross on the return 1 minute late. Maybe it's customer service but there was no change in time and no rules regarding staying in seats until you came to a stop to stop people falling over - it just felt really unnecessary.

Overall - yes, they are cheaper but I don't think I would sacrifice an hour flight, having plenty of space to avoid a luggage debacle for 45 minutes or a little bit more comfort on LNER next time for a little bit more cash.

https://twitter.com/KarlTurnerMP/status/...wcyEN1jssw&s=19

https://twitter.com/GazJacksonrmt/status...fboKpH0GeQ&s=19 

Out of the frying pan and in to the fire?

I have nothing but praise for Lumo. A long planned day trip to Auld Reekie went smoothly, the train was on time, clean and comfortable, my seat reserved, the staff pleasant.

The only effect of the train strike affecting pretty much all other services in NCL that Saturday, was that walking through and waiting in a largely empty Central Station was quite a nice experience, reminiscent of the Golden Age I am thinking.

I was so happy and relaxed, it melted away all plans I had to try and pick a fight with the picketing drivers outside the portico, who very much didn't seem to give off a vibe that this was an act of last gasp desperation that they dearly regretted on their part.

Laughing and joking with their appointed protectors in fact, Northumbria's Finest. Cowards.

As for their supposed gripe, the cost of living, that very enjoyable micro staycation, including the train fare, festival gig ticket and beers and breakfast, cost a grand total of £90. Well within my holiday budget on a pay of under £10ph in unstable work.

Had they ruined this small piece of summer for me, I'd have gladly risked a fine for affray in inviting them to a political debate, mano a mano.

i used Lumo for the first time yesterday and my lasting impression is that if the paths for these express services already existed, why didn't the good and the great at the DfT or LNER come up with the idea themselves?

As for the onboard service. It was OK. Disappointed you can't order food on the train and the power sockets are in an even worse position than on the old GWR HST sets. But, the journey was nothing to complain about. I did like the personal touch from the drivers with announcements and updates.

Given the price, I'll use them again but only if I wanted to be back in Newcastle earlier than my LNER booking and a Lumo departure just so happened to be available (and not canceled). How they deal with service disruptions really puts me off them being my "go to" option.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2...jadRVwUObY&v=w3D4m9--2h0&feature=youtu.be

RAIB report of Peterborough incident

(11 Jul 2023, 10:08 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]https://m.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR2...jadRVwUObY&v=w3D4m9--2h0&feature=youtu.be

RAIB report of Peterborough incident

Pretty scary to think that the train was going at a speed that it could have tipped over. 76mph where the limit is 30 then drops to 25.

Best Impressions have re-tweeted pictures of the updated Lumo livery, suggesting they've been attempting to create desire with it...

https://twitter.com/creatingdesire/statu...7645008355

Silver streaks added on the cab ends and cheesy slogans about being net-zero champions.

(16 Nov 2023, 6:39 pm)cainebj wrote [ -> ]Best Impressions have re-tweeted pictures of the updated Lumo livery, suggesting they've been attempting to create desire with it...

https://twitter.com/creatingdesire/statu...7645008355

Silver streaks added on the cab ends and cheesy slogans about being net-zero champions.

Desire? An IET...

Net Zero? So they can claim their electricity doesn't come from Biomass or Nuclear can they? 

MJ's love in with Best Impressions can't do either...

(16 Nov 2023, 6:39 pm)cainebj wrote [ -> ]Best Impressions have re-tweeted pictures of the updated Lumo livery, suggesting they've been attempting to create desire with it...

https://twitter.com/creatingdesire/statu...7645008355

Silver streaks added on the cab ends and cheesy slogans about being net-zero champions.

Sure he was going on about a pride livery or something that he'd done for them recently. 

The nepotism knows no bounds. 
It's actually cringe-inducing.

How none of these paint jobs for the boys invoices don't get investigated or pulled up during an audit, is beyond me.

As well as a route to Sheffield, Lumo are looking to extend to Glasgow.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/...ow-4535729

There's mention in there of LNER culling the once daily extension to/from Glasgow too.

(28 Feb 2024, 9:59 am)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]As well as a route to Sheffield, Lumo are looking to extend to Glasgow.

https://www.scotsman.com/news/transport/...ow-4535729

There's mention in there of LNER culling the once daily extension to/from Glasgow too.

Would be nice for a quick service to Glasgow and not going down to Motherwell, I've only made that mistake once on a CrossCountry service.

(28 Feb 2024, 12:45 pm)deanmachine wrote [ -> ]Would be nice for a quick service to Glasgow and not going down to Motherwell, I've only made that mistake once on a CrossCountry service.

I wonder how quickly a IET could go from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Shotts with a call at Livingston South?

(28 Feb 2024, 1:29 pm)DeltaMan wrote [ -> ]I wonder how quickly a IET could go from Glasgow Central to Edinburgh via Shotts with a call at Livingston South?

Anything would be quicker than going by Carstairs.

(28 Feb 2024, 12:45 pm)deanmachine wrote [ -> ]Would be nice for a quick service to Glasgow and not going down to Motherwell, I've only made that mistake once on a CrossCountry service.

I prefer going that way to changing to be honest. 
Whether it's changing on to the one to Queen Street via Falkirk or the route via Shotts (never done Bathgate), I definitely like the Carstairs route.

Probably plenty space on the Carstairs route these days

(28 Feb 2024, 5:18 pm)Andreos1 wrote [ -> ]I prefer going that way to changing to be honest. 
Whether it's changing on to the one to Queen Street via Falkirk or the route via Shotts (never done Bathgate), I definitely like the Carstairs route.

Probably plenty space on the Carstairs route these days

I like not changing but I'm not sure if it was just that particular journey I took was very dawdling, or seemed it at least. I was suppose to change but seen the train was going to Glasgow Central and decided to stay on, and I think I was quite late meeting my friends.

(29 Feb 2024, 4:05 am)deanmachine wrote [ -> ]I like not changing but I'm not sure if it was just that particular journey I took was very dawdling, or seemed it at least. I was suppose to change but seen the train was going to Glasgow Central and decided to stay on, and I think I was quite late meeting my friends.

15-20 minutes longer via Carstairs than the direct route via Falkirk.

Depends where you want to be in Glasgow though, Glasgow Central is in a much better place than Queen Street imo so the time savings will be lost for most people.

Trains are just horribly slow whatever route though between the two for the distance.

Lumo have apparently applied for a Rochdale to London service. 

https://news.railbusinessdaily.com/first...5%20years.