LNER vs. Lumo: Travel experts pit the East Coast Main Line’s 200mph trains against each other on journeys from London to Newcastle – and the footage of the duel is fascinating

LNER briefly had the East Coast Main Line Express route between London and Scotland to itself – then operator Lumo emerged.

Lumo doesn’t serve as many stations as LNER, stopping only at Stevenage, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth and Edinburgh – but it has shiny new blue trains that can match LNER’s Azumas top speed of 200km/h and costs less. So should it be the first choice for passengers who need to reach these destinations?

Travel experts from The Points Guy UK decided to find out and film their experience on board the LNER and Lumo services from London King’s Cross to Newcastle. The resulting images are mesmerizing – especially the part where the Lumo team suggests the reviewer sit on his candy bar to melt it into his croissant…

LUMO

Lumo – which offers standard class travel – was put to the test by Liam Spencer, who paid £20 for his ticket.

Lumo offers services between London King’s Cross and Stevenage, Newcastle upon Tyne, Morpeth and Edinburgh

Liam Spencer (above) put Lumo to the test and described his chair as “harder than usual.”

His train leaves on time, so that’s a good start, but then he realizes without pre-ordering, there’s no hot food.

When he buys a Dairy Milk bar, he reveals that the crew suggests he sit on it to melt it for his croissant, which he finds somewhat confusing.

Another negative was the seat – “harder than usual and one that can get uncomfortable on longer rides”.

Liam discovers that you have to pre-order hot food on Lumo

Stunning: The crew suggest Liam sits on his Dairy Milk to ‘warm it up’ for his croissant.

However, he is impressed with the attitude of the crew in general – “super friendly and really nice”. And says the train is “comfortable for the length of the journey” [around three hours].

He also notes another positive aspect: “Ticket prices can be incredibly low if booked in advance [as low as £9.90] and even auspicious on the day itself’.

LNER

LNER offers more frequent connections than Lumo and calls more stations

Nicky Kelvin, head of TPG UK, put LNER to the test and paid £90 for a first class ticket

While Liam debated running down his cow’s milk, Nicky had a complimentary “fresh and delicious” coconut, sweet potato, cauliflower, chickpea and spinach curry – served with peas in fragrant basmati rice (above)

Nicky Kelvin, head of TPG UK, put LNER to the test and paid £90 for a first class ticket.

He notes that top-tier cardholders have access to a lounge in King’s Cross, which he told MailOnline Travel was “a great place to hang out before boarding the train”.

And while Liam debated whether to use the lower power to warm his cow’s milk, Nicky scarfed down a complimentary “fresh and delicious” curry of coconut, sweet potato, cauliflower, chickpeas and spinach – served with peas in fragrant basmati rice .

Other pluses include “a much more frequent service with trains often running every 30 minutes, class of service options and a loyalty program and Amex cashback that can be combined to generate greater value.”

But he admits that LNER cannot compete with Lumo in terms of price.

The first LNER lounge in King’s Cross, which Nicky describes as “a great place to hang out”.