On Friday 8th March, at the Modern Railways ‘Golden Whistle’ Awards, held in association with the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators (CIRO), Tyneside based train company Lumo picked up another award.

The ‘Minimising Delay Minutes’ gold award was jointly won by Lumo and sister First Group company Hull trains.

This award is presented to the train companies whose staff play a key role in the despatch and turning around of late trains to make sure they leave on time.

Over the course of the calendar year, these two companies came out on top.

The Golden Whistle awards are often looked forward to by train companies each year. There are different categories to the awards, which also include on time arrivals of trains and freight performance.

To win any award is a is a huge accolade for any train company. The ‘Minimising Delay Minutes’ award is particularly sought after, as it shows customers how dedicated train compares are to ensure that their services run on time, which appeals in terms of a reliable service.

The awards are decided by leading industry judges and there are two awards, gold and silver.

In the case of the ‘Minimising Delay Minutes’ award, gold is awarded for top performance to the TOC (Train Operating Company) with minimal delays, while silver is awarded to the train company who have significantly improved the reliability of their services over the previous year.

‘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.”

Philip Sherratt, Editor of Modern Railways magazine

“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.”

Martijn Gilbert, Managing Director at Lumo

Whats next for Lumo?

Over the next 10 years, it is estimated that Lumo will bring £740m to the economy. Its cheap tickets and spacious seats have already attracted people from other forms of transport.

They have already reached the same level of passenger numbers than before the pandemic.

Lumo also prides its self on its fast electric services between the English and Scottish capitals, adding that 95% of carbon emissions are saved by taking the train between London and Edinburgh, making the company more eco-sustainable for the future.