Lumo announces plans to carry an additional 275,000 passengers between Newcastle and London

Newcastle-based train operator Lumo has revealed plans to introduce an extra service to run every day between the North East and London.

The proposals are for a new early morning service from Newcastle to London, with an additional evening return.

Lumo has stated that this will allow it to carry up to an additional 277,000 passengers each year and could also lead to the creation of new jobs.

The train operator has confirmed that the proposals have been submitted as part of the East Coast Main Line timetable review, which is taking place with all companies on the route.

At the time of writing, Lumo currently operates five return services a day between London and Edinburgh, with them all stopping at Newcastle.

Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director of Lumo, said: “We are very excited to be looking at this option to grow our popular all-electric train service to and from our home city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

"The North East has a number of plans to further improve transport connectivity and the growth of Lumo will help support this and deliver more great value and sustainable journeys to more customers on our route.

“We have played a significant part in encouraging more people to travel to and from Newcastle by train, bringing substantial environmental benefits while boosting the economy.

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“We look forward to working with Network Rail to refine this opportunity and take it forward to the final timetable, which we hope will benefit customers travelling on the East Coast Main Line.”

The proposals are now subject to final timing refinements with Network Rail ahead of an application for approval from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR). 

If approved, the additional services could begin in December and the new timetable will see journey times drop on average by around 15-20 minutes.