Stirling to London rail service to launch in 2026

A new direct daily train service between Stirling and London is set to launch in mid-2026.

Lumo, which is part of FirstGroup, will run four return services a day, with three on Sundays.

The trains will also call at Larbert, Greenfaulds, Whifflet, Motherwell and Lockerbie en-route to England.

The Lumo brand currently runs on the East Coast Main Line between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh.

The new West Coast services were initially planned to start this year, but FirstGroup said they are “currently expected to commence mid-2026 following the delivery of the trains and staff training”.

The company said it had secured a deal with rolling stock company Eversholt Rail in relation to the planned new route.

The UK government started the process of renationalising all remaining franchised train services last month when it brought South Western Railway into public ownership.

Lumo runs on a separate open access basis, meaning it sets its own fares, takes on all revenue risk and receives no taxpayer-funded subsidies.

There are currently only two daily trains to London that stop at Stirling – the Highland Chieftain from Inverness, and the Caledonian Sleeper.

The new service will compete with Avanti West Coast and the publicly-owned ScotRail, TransPennine Express and LNER.

FirstGroup chief executive Graham Sutherland said: “Our investment and capabilities in open access rail have delivered reliable, value-for-money services, grown rail demand and helped to spur economic growth and connect communities.

“We look forward to doing the same on our new services.”