Story perspectives

ORR Rejects Lumo’s Bid for Up to Four Services

By Drooid · Oct 8, 2026, 3:17 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Story summary

ORR rejected FirstGroup-owned Lumo’s proposal for up to four daily Rochdale-London Euston services.
ORR said the services would reduce timetable resilience and likely increase passenger delays and cancellations.
ORR also rejected WSMR’s four return Wrexham-London services and Avanti West Coast’s additional Blackpool-London services.
ORR approved Avanti’s weekday 19.29 Chester-London service to run until December 2030.

History

Historical Context

The 1993 Railways Act broke British Rail into private franchises and the infrastructure firm Railtrack; after the 2000 Hatfield crash Railtrack collapsed and was replaced by the non-shareholder Network Rail in October 2002. The Office of Rail Regulation, which recorded a 12 % peak-hour congestion rise by 2000, now rejects FirstGroup’s Lumo Rochdale-London and Avanti West Coast’s Blackpool-London additions because capacity remains strained.

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Story summary

ORR rejected FirstGroup-owned Lumo’s proposal for up to four daily Rochdale-London Euston services.
ORR said the services would reduce timetable resilience and likely increase passenger delays and cancellations.
ORR also rejected WSMR’s four return Wrexham-London services and Avanti West Coast’s additional Blackpool-London services.
ORR approved Avanti’s weekday 19.29 Chester-London service to run until December 2030.

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