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Azuma trains arrive on Highland Chieftain route

London North Eastern Railway’s Highland Chieftain route between Inverness and London King’s Cross has welcomed the arrival of the new Azuma trains.  

LNER operates The Highland Chieftain service in both directions every day between Inverness and London King’s Cross. The northbound Azuma service arrived on Monday evening and the first southbound Azuma will depart on Tuesday 10^th December 2019 at 07:55.

The new Azuma trains have replaced LNER’s diesel High Speed Trains which have served the Inverness route for nearly four decades.

The Azuma has features which meet the needs of the modern passenger, offering customers comfortable seats for comfort, as well as a system making it even easier to identify available and reserved seats. The train also offers the very best in on-board catering for customers in First Class or Standard.

Another new feature which is being introduced indefinitely to the long-distance Anglo-Scot services is the addition of extra luggage spaces. This will use specially designated areas where some non-reservable seats are currently located, offering extra onboard luggage storage while not inconveniencing any customers already booked to travel.

The new Highland Chieftain Azuma service will feature the specially designed ‘Celebrating Scotland’ livery, featuring the striking LNER tartan. The tartan has been specially commissioned by LNER in Scotland to represent the colours and communities of the East Coast route.

45 of the existing trains will be replaced with 65 new Azuma trains which will be completed by June 2020.

David Horne, Managing Director of LNER, said: “As our northern-most destination we are proud to be introducing our revolutionary Azuma services on this key route connecting Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands, with Edinburgh and London.

“Renowned for their magnificent mountains, mysterious lochs and ancient castles, the Scottish Highlands are famous throughout the world for their rich history and proud traditions and what better way to travel there in style and speed than on our Highland Chieftain service with our Azuma trains.”

Image: LNER’s Managing Director, David Horne is pictured alongside Cllr Helen Carmichael, Provost & City Leader. Credit LNER