Train review: Lumo’s no frills ‘803’

Open access operator Lumo competes with LNER and Avanti, as well as airlines, between Edinburgh and London. Its headline low fares and modern trains are proving a hit, but are the Class 803s any good? Pip Dunn finds out for himself.

Lumo is the trading name for a FirstGroup-backed Edinburgh-London King’s Cross open access operation. Based in Newcastle, and employing more than 100 staff, it runs five trains a day in each direction between the two capitals, seven days a week.