Popular open access operator, Lumo has been awarded top rail industry recognition for the commitment by the Newcastle based company in reducing delays.
The coveted ‘Minimising Delay Minutes’ gold award was presented at the Modern Railways ‘Golden Whistle’ awards held in London on Friday 8 March 2024.
The gold award, presented jointly to Lumo and sister-company, Hull Trains, recognises the efforts made by rail operators to reduce delays over an annual average.
Lumo demonstrated to expert industry judges a consistent reliability and performance on services under its control.
Held in partnership with the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators (CIRO), the Golden Whistle awards are a highlight in the industry calendar each year. Successful organisations are awarded one of two standards: silver or gold. The top award in this category, gold, won by Lumo represents excellent performance, while silver highlights significant improvement.
Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director at Lumo, said: “Our customers are at the heart of all we do so it is great to get this recognition of how we’re driving down delays to help give customers even more confidence to travel by train.
“Our colleagues work incredibly hard alongside our reliable fleet of Hitachi trains to ensure the very best possible service. We continue to focus on reducing cancellations and attracting more people to our services, better connecting the communities we serve along our East Coast route.”
Philip Sherratt, Editor of Modern Railways magazine, said: ‘Usually the smaller operators are not eligible for the statistics-based Golden Whistle Awards, but with Lumo and Hull Trains the top two operators in the category for minimising delay minutes we wanted to recognise the hard work of the teams involved so decided to present them with a special Gold Whistle.
“This award shows that both operators are working hard to reduce the delays over which they have control and have a keen focus on delivering the best performance they can.’
The awards are held annually and feature more than 10 different award categories ranging from right time arrivals to freight performance and other special awards.
The positive economic contribution of Lumo and Hull Trains was assessed by an independent report launched in February. The combined monetised benefits of Lumo and Hull Trains achieved £765m. Both companies are recording customer levels exceed pre-Covid levels by attracting people from other modes such as road and air.