Lumo is a brand new train service that promises cheaper fares between London, Newcastle and Edinburgh but how do you find the best prices?
What are Lumo trains?
Lumo are a new train operator that currently run one route with four stops:
- London Kings Cross (KGX)
- Newcastle (NCL)
- Morpeth (MPT)
- Edinburgh (EDB)
There are two trains a day each way and journeys take around 4.5 hours.
Unlike other rail services on the same route, Lumo does not have a first class offering and all seats are in standard class.
How cheap are Lumo train fares?
Up until 1st December 2021, Lumo are offering 90% of their train fares between London, Newcastle and Edinburgh for just £19.90 one way – or £13.10 if you have a railcard. You just need to make sure you’ve booked your ticket before your date of travel.
Reading this after these dates? Don’t worry, there’s still cheap fares to be had and this method will work on them too!
How do you find the cheap fares?
Thanks to their amazing launch price, a lot of these cheap tickets have been snapped up. This is why when you search, you may only find fares for £69 available.
However, there are still a few cheap tickets left so here’s how to find them.
- Head to Lumo and click on ‘Book’
- Fill in your departure station and where you want to go
- Add in your dates and the time you’re after
Now this is important – the Lumo website isn’t the best and so I recommend searching for the specific times that the Lumo service is operating. These are:
London to Edinburgh
10:45 AM
2:26 PM
Edinburgh to London
9:11 AM
4:12PM
- Find the Lumo service you’re after – look out for the Lumo logo in blue to know you’re booking one of their trains
What does the price mean?
- £19.90 – you’ve found the cheap introductory rate! Amazing. I’d get this booked quickly if I were you as they’re running out fast
- £69.00 – unfortunately the cheap intro rate has sold out leaving behind just 10% of the tickets which they charge at this rate
What will happen after the intro rate has ended?
After 1st December 2021, Lumo have stated that advance one way journeys will be priced from £14.90 – or just £9.90 if you have a railcard. Though, I haven’t been able to find one of these low fares yet!
Lumo say that 60% of seats will be priced under £30. Otherwise, there will be a price cap of £69 for the remaining tickets, or for tickets bought on the day.
Can I get cheaper fares elsewhere?
There are other services that run to Edinburgh including LNER. You may find that their advance fares are a similar or cheaper price, and so it’s always worth checking.
Would I recommend travelling on Lumo?
Absolutely! Whilst the price was very cheap when I tried it out, I didn’t feel like I was on a ‘cheap train’. It was a comfortable service with new carriages and I only hope this is the beginning of cheaper train travel across the UK.
You can watch my full review of Lumo on Instagram here.
Did that help?
I really hope so – I love helping save people money!
