how are we performing

our commitment to you
This is Lumo’s commitment to you and the provision of a standard of service which helps to you travel well and reassures you in your choice of how to travel. Regulation 1371 / 2007 on Rail Passengers’ Rights and Obligations requires us to set out our service quality standards in respect of:

information and ticket

All of our trains have clear signage throughout, giving information about the location and availability of onboard toilets, priority seating and other facilities.  Customers can also ask any Customer Experience Ambassador onboard a Lumo train for this information.  Information regarding the next station will be announced onboard by our Customer Experience Ambassadors and in the case of delays, our Customer Experience Ambassadors will announce information at appropriate intervals.  Information about incidents which cause significant disruption is available from Lumo’s Website here with journey checker.

Safety information can be found onboard, and the Customer Experience Ambassadors will also make announcements shortly before departure. Further information about security can be found at Lumo Safety & Security.
We do not manage any stations and therefore any services provided at the stations at which we call are the responsibility of the Station Facility Operator.  We are advocates of the ‘One Team’ approach to managing stations, which means that we work closely and regularly engage with the Station Facility Operators and other operators at the stations we serve.  For our customers, this means that whoever you speak to, or deal with at a station, they should respond to your query or request in the same way as we would, regardless of whom you are travelling with. Further information about the stations we serve can be found here with where we go.
Our timetables are available on website here at timetables or through our app LumoGo which can be downloaded from your local app store.

Information about train platforms can be found on the National Rail website and on customer information screens at stations.

Information about train platforms can be found on our LumoGo app in the ‘live trains’ section, on our website live train times, on the National Rail website and on Customer Information Screens at stations.
Customers can purchase tickets on our website at train tickets, via the LumoGo app or on board our trains via our Customer Experience Ambassadors.
We do not manage any stations and therefore any services provided at the stations at which we call are the responsibility of the Station Facility Operator.  We are advocates of the ‘One Team’ approach to managing stations, which means that we work closely and regularly engage with the Station Facility Operators and other operators at the stations we serve.  For our customers, this means that whoever you speak to, or deal with at a station, they should respond to your query or request in the same way as we would, regardless of whom you are travelling with.  Further information about the stations we serve can be found here with station information.

We can help with Passenger Assistance here at Lumo Passenger Assist.

Our Accessible Travel Policy is our commitment to delivering a consistent, excellent service, making journeys easy, convenient and accessible for all our customers.  Our Making Rail Accessible leaflet is available on request from all of the stations at which we call.

punctuality and general principles to cope with disruption to services

At Lumo we set ourselves high standards of train punctuality and make every effort to get customers to their destination on time.   

The table below shows our train service performance from 1st April to 31st March 

 Performance area  2023/24
% of all trains arriving within 3 mins of their final destination   69.80%
% of all trains arriving within 10 mins of their final destination  76.40%
% of all trains arriving within 30 mins of their final destination  98.20% 
% of all trains delayed at their origin departure station  18.20% 
% of all trains delayed at their arrival destination station  43.90% 
% of all trains delayed at their arrival destination station by 60-119 minutes 0.60% 
% of all trains delayed at their arrival destination station by 120 minutes or more 0.20% 

Where trains may be delayed or disrupted resulting in missed connections, we will make every effort to help customers.  Detailed information on this can be found in our ‘Pledges' which can be found on our website here
Our arrangements for managing train service disruption is set out in our ‘Pledges' which can be found on our website here. When our services are disrupted, we will aim to issue information through our social media channels, here at National Rail and information about incidents which cause significant disruption via Journey Checker.
Our arrangements for compensation are set out Delay Repay. To apply for Delay Repay compensation please visit our online Delay Repay website. It was a challenging period for 2023/24 as Lumo experienced restrictions during multiple storms and many industry infrastructure incidents down the east coast main line.

Our performance in relation to delay compensation 1st April – 31st March compared with the previous year was:

 Metric  Total 2022/23 Total 203/24 
 Volume of claims received  25,823 41,931 
 Volume of claims approved 19,798 34,042
 Total delay compensation paid £1,042,881 £1,616,817 

cancellation of services

To apply for a refund, customers should go back to their ticket retailer to obtain this. If you bought your ticket through the Lumo website or app please visit our Refund website.

When trains are cancelled, we provide the same information and help we give to customers affected by delays, and the same compensation policy applies.  We set ourselves high standards of train punctuality and make every effort to get customers to their destination on time.   

The table below shows our train service cancellations for 1st April to 31st March compared to the previous year was:
 
 Performance area 2022/23 2023/24 
 % of Lumo trains cancelled which were due to run 3.20% 2.70% 

cleanliness of rolling stock and station facilities

At Lumo we do our very best to ensure that our trains are clean, well presented and comfortable with a full range of facilities available. Our Customer Experience Ambassadors undertake regular in transit, on the go cleaning as well as our station cleaning team for an extensive turn around clean at terminus stations, making sure all our trains are cleaned and remain clean whilst you travel. The train ventilation systems ensure a continuing supply of fresh air throughout the whole journey. Cleanliness and hygiene are high on Lumo priorities, we target our cleaning on key customer on train touchpoints such as handrails, door buttons, arm rests, seat top handles, tables, toilets and sink surfaces. Both in between services and throughout each journey, all our Customer Experience Ambassadors will ensure the environment is clean and have received clear training and guidance regarding standards that will make sure you can relax and feel comfortable during your travel experience. At regular intervals the Customer Experience Ambassadors will pass through the carriages collecting rubbish, disposing and where practicable, separating items for recycling. Additional deep cleaning will take place overnight prior to the next day’s service.  All processes and practices are driven to enhance your travel experience. We undertake regular auditing of our train 
cleaning arrangements.
All of our trains are equipped with air conditioning. The train ventilation systems ensure a continuing supply of fresh air throughout the whole journey.  Should this fail our Customer Experience Ambassadors will do everything they can to move customers to an alternative coach.  Each of our trains has five air conditioning units on board. 

Our performance for these during 1st April – 31st March compared to our previous year was:

Performance area 2022/23 2023/24
air conditioning availability onboard 100% 100%
Our trains are fitted with four toilets, of which two are accessible toilets. Our performance for these during 1st April – 31st March compared to our previous year was:

 Performance area  2022/23 2023/24 
Toilet availability onboard 99%  96% 

customer satisfaction

We continuously monitor customer satisfaction across a range of channels.  This includes the Wavelength system operated by the Rail Delivery Group, our own customer satisfaction surveys and our internal Customer Service Assessment Tools.  We will also be launching a new Mystery Shopping system towards the end of the year.
Furthermore, we survey customers who have contacted us both pre and post journey using our contact centre.

All this customer feedback is used across the business by senior management to direct long-term strategy, and tactically by customer-facing teams to help improve customer experience.

complaint handling refunds and compensation

We’re committed to consistently delivering excellent service and making journeys easy and convenient for all our customers. We know that things can sometimes go wrong, or we can do things differently, and we'd like you to tell us when this happens. 

Continuous improvement is important to us and the way we are set up means we’re able to quickly and effectively implement change based on our customers’ feedback, so we’ll use this to:

identify trends and the root causes of complaints.
assess and make changes to the way we work to continually improve our services.
review how we respond to feedback and how we can improve in doing so further.

We welcome your feedback and complaints as an opportunity to learn and help us to be better at what we do, with a key focus on safety related issues, as well as accessibility complaints. Our Complaints Handling Procedure can be found here.  There are multiple ways that you can contact Lumo, which can be found at Lumo Railhelp.  You can also find an FAQ section on our website (Lumo Help). This page is regularly updated thanks to your feedback and is there to help you easily resolve your concerns.

The number of complaints received during 1st April – 31st March compared to our previous year was down 18%. 
The number of complaint cases closed during the period:

43.20% increase in closure rate within 10 days
0.80% increase in closure rate within 20 days

We saw a decrease of 0.91 days on the average to close claims within the period.

 Metric 2022/23 2023/24 
 a) Volume received 3,107 2,554
 b) Closed within 10 working days 50.60% 93.80% 
 c) Closed within 20 working days 98.97% 99.77% 
 d) Average time to close claims within period (working days) 3.23 2.32 

Top Five categories’ of 2023/24 complaints received during 1 April - 31 March compared to the same category the previous year. 

 Complaint Category Number of complaints
2022/23 
 Number of complaints
2023/24
 Punctuality & Reliability  635 498 
 Tickets and Refunds  581 291 
 Sufficient Room to Sit or Stand on Train  131 238 
 Compensation Claim Process  151  178
 Claim Rejected  157   133

Punctuality & Reliability

We are working closely with our planning and onboard crew, looking at different services each week to analyse all delay reports and collate common themes with a strong focus on Right Time Departures.

We are promoting improved reporting from drivers and onboard crew for all delays.  This will enable Lumo to learn and improve identifying specific trends.

We are working closely with our control team to actively encourage communication with Network Rail, aid Lumo to regulate where we can and promote direct routing when the opportunity arises, to try to reduce time to any delays.

We conduct regular periodic disruption reviews to analyse and look for process and recommended improvements both internal and with One Team colleagues.

Sufficient room to sit or stand

We conducted a deep dive analysis where we found some complaints required recategorise to space for luggage. 

We also use demand-based pricing to encourage customers to use our less busy services, helping to continue to offer value for money and use best use of the capacity on our trains

From the end May 2024, we are introducing 4 additional “end of coach” luggage racks to create extra storage, this will enable customers to store their luggage rather than use seats that can be used for those standing. 

Our customers affected by disruption, will now be offered alternative ticket validity, at no extra cost, on Lumo services prior and post the service.   Dependant on the severity of the disruption,  we will also offer the opportunity to use disruption tickets at no extra cost, to travel the next day or days on any Lumo service.

We have partnered with a third-party operator, offering customers a left luggage option called “Stasher” at over 3000 locations in 600 cities.  This will enable those with return day trip tickets,  the chance to travel luggage free using our booking link on our website luggage storage.

Tickets & Refunds / Compensation Claim Process / Claim Rejected

We have included within our Lumo engineering webpage,  information on specific dates that are awaiting Network Rail confirmation before tickets can be retailed.

Our social media team now use disruption information graphics, to help guide customers when claiming for either delay repay or refund from the ticket retailer. 

Our on-board Customer Experience Ambassadors will now announce delay information  together with utilising the LED visual and audio system through the Train Management System (TMS) before arrival into all terminus stations.

We have added additional information on our web pages to help and guide customer to using the correct links for all claims.

To help speed customer reimbursement, we now use the NatWest PayIt system, thus reducing the wait time and need to issue cheques for disruption consequential costs.

Our IT team have included mandatory attachment fields, designed to capture required evidence on webforms, to reduce repeat information requests our customers may receive.

In May 2024, we introduced a new website, designed with improved functionality and customer friendly features taking into account all recommended amendments.

During the Summer of 2024, we are to introduce a seat picker functionality within the booking flow, enabling customers to view seat availability and select alternative seat at the booking stage.

In general

We are also focusing on customer enquiries to understand the underlying issues, that may develop into a complaints.  By identifying areas at an early stage, our aim is to then limit trends that would increase complaint numbers if not addressed.

Facilities onboard was another key area identified that resulted in increased customer complaints. We have been working tirelessly with our engineering team to limit the toilet maintenance issues experienced throughout the year. Through our work with Hitachi (our train maintenance provider), new improved toilet modifications have been installed to help limit future defects.
We have since seen a positive impact and improvement through a decrease in the complaint categories identified.

We will continue to listen and focus on our customers feedback and follow up by applying learning where we can.

We continuously review key areas of concern, driving investment for improvement as part of our business planning process.

passenger assistance (PA)

How we can help with Passenger Assistance including how you can book can be found at Lumo Passenger Assistance.

Our Lumo Accessible Travel Policy is our commitment to delivering a consistent, excellent service, making journeys easy, convenient and accessible for all our customers.  Our Making Rail Accessible leaflet is available on request from all of the stations at which we call.

If pre-booking in advance is not possible, we also offer Turn-Up-And-Go.  We ask our customers to arrive at least 20 minutes before departure. We understand that not all customers are aware of the different ways they can get assistance when travelling by train, so we widely communicate that customers can request Passenger Assistance, and not only those with visible disabilities. We also want our customers to understand that booking Passenger Assist or using the Turn Up and Go service at a station is available for everyone who may need it, including those who are not travelling on their own. We ask our customers to arrive at least 20 minutes before departure  – this is a non-guaranteed assistance booking although we will endeavour to support wherever possible. 

Our onboard team undergo 2 yearly accessible travel refresher training program, keeping those customers requiring a little extra help at the forefront of their minds.  We include regular updates on policy changes together with a more detailed brief during their twice a yearly, face to face, safety brief meetings. 

Lumo PA Bookings 1st April – 31st March compared to the previous years was:

 Performance area 2022/23 2023/24 
 Passenger Assistance Bookings 1,788 2,575 

Top 5 PA Complaints 1st April – 31st March compared with the same category for the previous year.

Passenger Assistance Complaints  2022/23 2023/24 
Other accessibility  10 
Assistance booking process
Booked assistance not provided at the station 3
Booked assistance not provided on train 0
Alternative Accessible Transport (AAT) - rail replacement related 1

Other accessibility

We focused on all Passenger Assist complaints to identify any trends, where we identified a significant increase in the number of “other accessibility”.
We found an increase in PA requests from parents with pushchairs for which this type of assistance is not within the PA specification.   We subsequently have briefed the PA teams to explain at the booking stage, that this is out of the scope for such requests, thus reducing complaints for expected assistance.
Customers will be reminded for safety that pushchairs are to be folded and littles ones carried before boarding our services.  Ramps are not available for the use of pushchairs.  

Assistance booking process

We have been working closely with our PA providers to understand any contingency plans that are in place, when PA seating systems are unavailable / offline.
We have seen an increase in Turn-Up-and-Go (TUAG)  customers joining our late services that will subsequently arrive out of the assistance team hours at the terminus station.  Our onboard Customer Experience Ambassadors will support customers  as much as we can upon arrival, but we would like our customers to know in advance of travel what support can be expected, should they wish not to travel.

Booked assistance not provided at station

After investigation, we found the majority failed assistance were related to delays and subsequent arrival at station out of hours. 
We have addressed this with the onboard crew to speak with the customers to ascertain if help is required on the station platforms, liaising with our control teams if additional help or onward travel is required and can be arranged.

We have also highlighted the importance to the onboard crew, to record in the PA App any new customer seating arrangements, should this differ from originally reserved seating.  This will in turn, aid the arrival station team to locate and help customers alight to reduce failed assistance bookings.