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OPEN access operator Lumo recently celebrated its first birthday by announcing that it had been successful in its launch aim of abstracting passengers from air to rail. The Lumo story goes back to 2016 when a First Group application to run open access services between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh was approved by the Office of Rail and Road (ORR).
This was a response to Network Rail plans to enhance East Coast Main Line capacity to allow paths for eight express passenger trains per hour as a result of infrastructure improvements at Werrington Junction (Peterborough). More capacity was available because a number of freight services were removed from the two-track section of route between Grantham (Stoke Tunnel) and Doncaster, with alternative operation over the Joint Line to reach Doncaster.
At the time, it was also proposed to restore an element of the four-track formation between Peterborough and Huntingdon where much of the down slow line was taken up as part of the route electrification project. This has not to date been pursued, as a greater element of freight traffic
