Lumo passengers forced to wait an hour while train refuelled en route from Stirling to London
Incident comes a month after long-distance operator’s train ran without working toilets
Passengers on Lumo’s ill-fated new Stirling-London service have suffered cancelled services, no working toilets - and now a train which stopped for an hour to refuel.
In what’s thought to be a very rare incident on the railways, travellers heading for London on Sunday night were force to alight from their train at Crewe in Cheshire for more diesel, The Scotsman has learned.
An industry source said: “You’ve heard of pit stops in motor racing. Ever heard of the lesser known Lumo pit stop?
“[Train number] 1M02 Stirling to Euston last night [Sunday] de-trained everyone at Crewe to receive fuel ️- about 300 people on the platform for an hour - absolute chaos!”
Lumo, which is owned by Aberdeen-based FirstGroup, said it happened because a shortage of drivers had meant the 20-year-old, second-hand train - one of only five in its west coast fleet - had not been refuelled earlier in the day.
Another industry source said: “It’s very rare. Most operators would swap trains in this situation, but Lumo has a tiny number of trains.”
A Lumo spokesperson said: “It was a tricky operational decision, which was needed to make sure the train could get to its end destination [London Euston].
“Our southbound 8.36pm service was refuelled at Crewe on Sunday. We apologise for any disruption to customers.
“As a brand new train service offering affordable travel to a range of new destinations, we are continuing to work hard to provide the best service possible for our customers.
“Impacted customers will receive a full refund through delay replay.
“We continue to improve this new route and are investing in our fleet.”
READ MORE: I travelled on Lumo's first Stirling-London train - whose journey time could slashed within months
ScotRail denied it had had to refuel trains while in passenger service.
Its spokesperson said: “It’s not something we’re aware has ever happened.
“If a train required refuelling, it would be taken off its diagram [schedule] and scheduled into a fuelling location.”
The Lumo incident comes a month after one of its London-Stirling trains ran for much of the five-and-a-half hour journey with no working toilets after a fault developed.
The train stopped for longer at stations so passengers could use platform toilets.
Lumo admitted there had been other problems with the class 222 Meridian trains’ toilets, but no other services had operated with none working. The trains were previously used by East Midlands Railway.
Meanwhile, the operator cancelled all services on the route one day a week after launching it in May because the only train it had at the time developed a mechanical fault.
ScotRail is to refurbish the same type of train for use on its inter-city routes from next year, but it is understood that they will undergo a far more comprehensive overhaul than the £10 million it cost Lumo.
Lumo is an “open access” operator which sets its own fares and receives no government support.
It is expected to remain in private hands when most other England-based train operators are nationalised by the UK Government by next year to become part of Great British Railways (GBR).
ScotRail and Caledonian Sleeper are owned by the Scottish Government and will not carry GBR branding.
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