Lumo In Discussions To Operate Glasgow Services
The title of this post, is the same as that of this press release from FirstGroup.
These four paragraphs give more details.
FirstGroup, the leading private sector transport operator, today announces that its popular open access rail service Lumo is in discussions with Transport Scotland and Network Rail to extend some of its London-Edinburgh trains to and from Glasgow.
Having identified opportunities to extend a number of daily journeys to and from Glasgow in the timetables for 2025 and beyond, work will now continue with Transport Scotland and track infrastructure manager Network Rail to agree final route options and timings ahead of an application for access rights to the Office of Rail and Road (‘ORR’), the industry regulator.
If successful, the new services could be in operation from next summer.
Lumo’s proposed new offering will improve links for customers travelling between Newcastle and Glasgow, giving people a choice of services without needing to change trains. In addition, a significant number of users of Lumo’s current London-Edinburgh trains go on to travel through to Glasgow via other connections, and through this move, Lumo aims to offer a direct through service for these customers.
I have a few thoughts.
There Appears To Be A Need For An Affordable London And Glasgow Service
This is the last sentence of my extract from the press release.
In addition, a significant number of users of Lumo’s current London-Edinburgh trains go on to travel through to Glasgow via other connections, and through this move, Lumo aims to offer a direct through service for these customers.
This looks to be a service, that has been suggested by an analysis of passengers’ tickets.
Which Station Will Lumo Use In Glasgow?
Consider.
- The current LNER service between London King’s Cross and Glasgow, uses Glasgow Central station and it takes 66 minutes between Edinburgh and Glasgow Central stations.
- LNER’s service also calls at Haymarket and Motherwell.
- ScotRail services between Edinburgh and Glasgow Queen Street take about 49-50 minutes.
I suspect, that Lumo will take the faster route.
Newcastle And Glasgow Is A New Route
Currently, all passengers between Glasgow and Newcastle have to change at Edinburgh.
This will be the first direct train in my memory, except for LNER’s single daily service between London and Glasgow Central, which stops at Newcastle.
What About The Football?
Glasgow is very much about football.
Would it be possible to use Lumo to see a match starting at 15:00 on a Saturday afternoon, if you lived in London?
- The 05:48 train from King’s Cross on a Saturday arrives in Edinburgh at 10:07.
- Trains between Edinburgh and Glasgow take fifty minutes, so I feel it would be reasonable to be able to get to Glasgow by 10:57.
This time would be more than early enough to have a few swift halves and see the match if it started at 15:00.
But would it be possible to get back to London after the match?
- The last train leaves Edinburgh at 17:55 and arrives in King’s Cross at 22:26.
- Applying the fifty minute journey time between Edinburgh and Glasgow means it will leave at 17:05.
- It appears that from Ibrox and Celtic Park to Glasgow Central or Glasgow Queen Street station is about twenty minutes.
On the current timetable, it would appear to be possible, but tight.
One alternative would be to take the Caledonian Sleeper back to London. But it doesn’t appear to run on a Saturday night.
Coaches do run and an overnight coach costs around twenty pounds.
It looks like if Lumo ran a service about 18:00 on a Saturday to London, it wouldn’t run empty.
Will Lumo Need More Trains?
In the press release, FirstGroup plc Chief Executive Officer Graham Sutherland, is quoted as saying.
Once preferred route options and timings have been agreed, discussions will continue with Network Rail and the ORR to secure the required approvals. The journeys would be operated within the existing Lumo fleet of all-electric trains and it is anticipated that the additional services could begin in summer 2025.
That looks to me, that they will not be obtaining more trains before next summer.
In Ten-Car Hull Trains, I noted that some of Hull Trains services were now running as ten-car trains.
If the passenger demand is there for ten-car trains to Hull, which is almost exactly half the distance of Edinburgh, I would expect that in the future, Lumo will be running some services as ten-car trains.
In Extra Luggage Racks For Lumo, which is based on an article in the November 2023 Edition of Modern Railways, an alternative view on more trains is taken.
The Modern Railways article finishes with this paragraph.
Lumo celebrated its second birthday in late October and was also set to mark the carriage of its two-millionth passenger. It is understood Lumo is interested in augmenting its fleet, such has been the success of the service; while many operators favour bi-mode units, Lumo is proud of its all-electric credentials so straight EMUs are still preferred, although the possibilities of including batteries which could power the trains may be pursued (the ‘803s’ have on-board batteries, but only to provide power to on-board systems if the electricity supply fails).
I find this development very interesting.
As London King’s Cross and Edinburgh and Glasgow are all electric routes, in normal service batteries should not be needed, but sometimes trains have to use the diversion via Lincoln, which I have estimated is 86.5 miles.
As an electrical engineer, I’ve always believed that the emergency batteries in the Class 803 trains are very similar to the traction batteries that Hitachi are developing for the Class 802 trains.
A traction battery, that was capable of handling the diversion would stop Lumo having to cancel occasional services.
Conclusion
An extension to Glasgow looks like it could be a simple and profitable way to extend the current Lumo service.
But it might need some extra trains in the future.
A Lumo service to Glasgow, might be helped by a seven-day service on the Caledonian Sleeper, so passenger could go North on Lumo and South on the Sleeper to get a full day in Glasgow.
Starbucks And Glasgow Rangers
I’ve been reading about the tax avoidance measures of Starbucks over the last few days and it looks like they are doing a few things to normalise the situation, according to this article on the BBC.
This could be due to the protests and boycotts mounted by the good old British public.
Now some might think, that Glasgow Rangers have also cheated the tax man, by the use of Employee Benefit Trusts. According to this article on the BBC, the HMRC thinks so and is pursuing what they think should have been paid.
But surely the issue in both cases is fairness. Does their tax situation give Starbucks an advantage over their rivals? Many argue that it does.
And if it is true in Starbucks case, it must be true in that of Glasgow Rangers, as they can pay their players more money.
I would like to see one set of rules applied equally to all companies and individuals.
Rangers Get To Play Football In England
This is how the BBC put it in a long article.
Rangers’ old ambition to play league football in England was realised in circumstances they would not have imagined until the club’s summer of financial turmoil.
As they crossed the border to sun-kissed Shielfield Park, memories in the capacity crowd returned to that famous victory in 1967, when the Wee Rangers caused one of the biggest shocks in Scottish Cup history with a 1-0 victory over the men from Ibrox.
Rangers only drew and now are fourth in the Scottish Third Division.
Just thinking, but have Rangers paid their tax bill yet?
Are Rangers Really Going To Play In Division 3?
This post on the BBC web site leaves a lot of holes to be exploited and arguments to be settled.
There’s going to be a lot of money kilted by lawyers.
What Shall We Do With Rangers?
They’re talking this morning on the BBC Radio 5 phone-in about Rangers.
What right to Rangers have to exist, let alone go into their division of choice.
Just imagine, what would happen if say Chelsea or any of the big London clubs went bust. Every fan north of Watford, would want them to be kicked out completely, for all the arrogance they’ve shown over the years.
So fans of other clubs in Scotland are only acting how their English counterparts would.
But let’s face it, no team in Scotland, would beat the best two teams in Wales.
We certainly don’t want Rangers or Celtic with their sectarianism in the English leagues.
Rangers too, should pay their debs to HMRC.
It Looks Grim for Rangers
It looks like HMRC will reject any deal to save Rangers and go for liquidation of the Glasgow club. Let’s face it, they have been stung by so many clubs over the last few years, that the time has come to make a stand for the honest taxpayers of the UK.
I shall not be sad if they are liquidated, as on the only time I saw Rangers play in a friendly at Ipswich, the behaviour of their fans was not acceptable to your average fan of English football. It was only a friendly, but I believe Suffolk police don’t want Rangers back.
It will be sad for their loyal fans, especially as they have been bled dry by successive owners, who wanted glory at any price.
In some ways it’s a strong condemnation of football, where to succeed, you need to have an owner who is as rich as Creosus. Or in the case of Spain a compliant bank manager.
Football is going through a difficult change and hopefully it will emerge stronger at the other side, with more community and fan owned clubs.
Spanish Football is Built on Debt
I know there’s a lot of debt in British football and some clubs such as Portsmouth and Rangers seem to have succumbed to the problems. But this is nothing compared to the tax debts of the leading Spanish clubs, as detailed in this report from AFP.
I thought UEFA had a series of fair-play rules, that British clubs adhere to. It would appear that Spanish practices are different. Here’s just one phrase from the report.
But the latest figure to hit the headlines in Spain is the 752 million euros that Spain’s elite clubs owe to the tax man at a time when more than five million are unemployed and the government is asking citizens for more sacrifices.
Even Rangers don’t owe a tenth of that to the taxman.
What’s Going on in Scottish Football?
At the moment, I’m listening to the last match in the Glasgow Premier League at Celtic Park. It is usually on one of the main Sky channels, but today it is on Sky Sports 4. Are those of us who get our Sky through BT Vision being censored? Or do they expect it will be too red-blooded for English tastes? Especially, as from what I can gather from the commentary, the Celtic crowd have been giving the Rangers fans a warm and very bigoted welcome. I think that if say some of the banners unfurled by the home fans, appeared at say an Ipswich against Norwich fixture, they would certainly be confiscated.
All of this is a minor battle compared to what happens in the next few weeks. Rangers will probably loose a lot of their best players and the transfer embargo they are under will mean they won’t be able to sign any more.
What puzzles me about Rangers, is that the Inland Revenue didn’t fully investigate the non-payment of tax by the club a couple of years earlier? After all, if this forces the club into liquidation, then it will be the English at fault. Could it be, that Prudence didn’t want it to happen under his watch?
As a taxpayer, I have a right to know, about all the tax and contract mandering that happened in Scotland in the last days of the worst government we’ve had since Lord North.
What’s Going Wrong With Scottish Football?
Reading all of the stories last night about Scottish football, it appears to be digging itself a big hole.
Apparently, the Scottish Premier League is set up that all changes need an 11-1 majority, to protect the interests of Celtic and Rangers. The other clubs want this changed to a 9-3 vote. The manifestations of this are well set out in this reasoned article from the Herald.
The article ends with this statement.
The Old Firm, and the rest of the SPL clubs, have a responsibility to do what is right for the game. Where is the consensus? Who is prepared to act radically, instead of just talking about it?
If Scotland wants to have a viable football competition, the powers that be must act decisively, radically and quick. One solution, that I would not countenance at any price is Rangers and Celtic playing in the English leagues. They must keep their sectarianism north of the border.
To make matter worse for Scottish football, the driver of the Motherwell team coach managed to get it stuck under a bridge, as is reported here.
I do also wonder whether the rise of Scottish rugby teams like Edinburgh are turning fans against football and its never ending troubles. Fanslike nothing better than a winner.
The Fight of the Week Is Warming Up
I’m watching the latest instalment in the Glasgow Premier League.
Rangers have scored a goal and Celtic have had a player sent off.
I wouldn’t like to be the referee for the next few weeks.
The Anonymous Widower 