Content
LNER Azuma (UK)
What to look out for so that you can make the most of the journey experience when travelling on a LNER Azuma train service.
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At a Glance
Travel Pass Supplement
Rail Pass Reservation Fees
Reservations
Available
Time of Day
Day
Catering
Food services available
Bistro (bar food and take away meals)
Accessibility
Accessing the train
Wheelchair Spaces
Bikes Allowed
Train Specification
Attributes of the train
Has a Conductor
Country
Which country these trains operate in.
Great Britain
Travel Comforts
WiFi
Travel Passes
Eurail
Other
On Board
First
Perks
WiFi
A complimentary WiFi portal is available throughout this train.
At Seat Catering
According to the time of day of travel, passengers will be able to choose from a menu of catering options, which will then be served at their seats.
Power Socket (UK)
The power sockets on this train are compatible with the standard 3-point plugs as typically used in the UK.
On board:
The First Class seats are arranged 2 + 1 across the aisle instead of 2+2 and another difference with Standard Class seats is that you can use a button to recline them.
The power sockets are located out of sight, you have to lift up the arm rests to find them; but in First Class USB ports are also available.
Another less obvious benefit of travelling in First Class is that the luggage racks are larger than those in Standard Class.
Though something common to both First and Standard Class is that window blinds are available.
The food and drink service:
Complimentary food and drink is served to first class passengers at their seats, but one of three menus will be available per departure; and this offering will be consistent throughout the journey.
Though as stated on the LNER website, it's website cannot yet indicate which menu will be available on each train.
The three menus are:
- Deli = hot/cold sandwiches + salads
- Dish = hot/cold sandwiches + salads + pre-prepared hot light meals
- Dine This is similar to the Dish menu, but depending on the time of day, either a cooked breakfast will also be available, or a three course meal with dishes cooked to order by the on-board chefs.
So the Dine menu is in effect the equivalent of a full restaurant service, as is typical on other European trains which offer this service, but on LNER it is only available in First Class and is included in the ticket price.
Prior to the introduction of the three menu options, the equivalent of the Deli menu would have been available at weekends and the equivalent of the Dine menu would have been available on early morning and late afternoon/evening departures on Mon-Fri, with the 'Dish' menu available at other times on Mon-Friday.
Though on the longer-distance services between London and both Aberdeen and Inverness the Dish menu is typically available at weekends.
Two meals are also typically served when travelling between London and destinations north of Edinburgh.
Standard
Perks
WiFi
A complimentary WiFi portal is available throughout this train.
Trolley Service:
A catering trolley with hot and cold drinks and snacks should be taken through the train at some point during its journey.
Power Socket (UK)
The power sockets on this train are compatible with the standard 3-point plugs as typically used in the UK.
On board:
An unusual feature for a British train are the window blinds which can be used to shield from bright sunlight, though when using them be aware that it won't only be your seat(s) which will be impacted.
The food and drink service
On virtually all departures at some point during the journey a catering trolley will be taken through the train, from which you can order hot/cold drinks, snacks and sandwiches at your seat.
There is also an on-board café where you can order hot food and a more extensive range of food/drink items.
You can now also use the LNER app to order food/drink from the on-board cafe menu and have the chosen items delivered to your seat(s).
LNER Azuma travel guide:
The operator LNER is understandably keen to showcase the experience of travelling by these Azuma trains on its website.
Also when looking up a journey on the LNER website, you can see which departures will be by these new Azuma trains.
These Azuma trains either have five or nine coaches, though on some departures two five coach trains are joined together to make a 10 car train.
Here are the seating plans for both types of train.
Route summary:
LNER is now using these trains on most departures on the London <> Leeds route plus most departures on the London <> Edinburgh route.
All of the services which continue beyond Edinburgh to Aberdeen, Inverness and Stirling are now operated by Azuma trains
The London <> Hull service operated by LNER is also now an Azuma train.
Facilities summary:
Eight things that are good to know about travelling on an Azuma train:
(1) Complimentary Wi-Fi access is available throughout the train.
(2) Power sockets are available at all seats and USB sockets are also available at table seats in First Class.
(3) All First Class seats have tables, but in Standard Class there is a mix of tables and an airline-style seats; when booking tickets for Standard Class journeys on the LNER website, you can select table or airline seats as a preference.
(4) When buying tickets on the LNER website ShowMeTheJourney recommends checking the location of the seats you'll be assigned on the seating plan you'll be able to access during the booking process
You can check if you have been offered a forward facing seat; there is a direction of travel indicator at bottom right on the plan and if you’ll be travelling with luggage, you can also check how near you will be to the luggage racks.
If you want to, you can then select alternative seat(s) on the seating plan.
(5) Though something you won’t be able to confirm on the seating plan is whether the seat(s) you have been assigned will have a good view, not all of the seats in both First and Standard Class line up well with the windows; though seats with hardly any window access at all are marked with an R for restricted view.
(6) An at-seat catering service is provided in both First Class and Standard Class (second class)
(7 The luggage allowance is three pieces of luggage per person, but another positive of the Azuma trains is that they have more space to store luggage than the trains they have replaced.
(8) Up to two dogs can travel for free with an individual or group of travellers.
Boarding with seat reservations:
At King’s Cross and the stations in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Hull, Inverness and Leeds where these Azuma trains commence their journeys, the number of the platform (track) that a specific departure will be leaving from, normally appears on the information screens 10 -15 minutes prior to departure.
This will signal the start of a race to board the train, but if you don’t have luggage, and do have a reservation, you can take your time as your seat(s) will be waiting for you to occupy them.
If you will be boarding at a station the train calls at during a journey, there are now usually signs on the platform (track) which will show you where to wait for speedy boarding into each coach/carriage.
Don’t just check the coach/carriage numbers by the doors, also check the seat number info that’s on the outside of the train.
Most coaches will have two doors, one at each end and the other door may be nearer to your seat.
Also worth knowing:
Worth knowing is that you don’t have to occupy the seat you have been assigned, for your travel ticket to be valid; the train conductor will check the ticket, but not the reservation.
So if for any reason you want to travel in a different seat, you can do so, as long as you check that the alternative seat(s) you want to move to hasn't been reserved, so will be available for your journey.
As you enter the coach/carriage check to see what other seats are free, which is comparatively easy to do thanks to the seat-sensor devices that LNER has installed above each set of seats.
Green = unreserved and therefore available for the entire journey
Orange = reserved for some of the journey, so check the stations indicated as the seat may be available for your entire journey
Red= reserved for the entire journey and therefore unavailable.
If you don’t have heavy luggage, after departure it can be worth having a walk through the train, to see what seats are available in other coaches.
It’s not unknown for some of the coaches on the train to relatively busy, while others will be comparatively empty.
Boarding without seat reservations:
On the main information screens at the larger stations, at the foot of the information for each train departure (below its list of calling points), you should be able to see something which resembles a table/chart.
This info will show which of the coaches on the train will be busy, because most of the seats in them have been reserved, and which will be comparatively empty.
So if you don’t have a reservation, you can identify which coaches are likely to have the most seats available and head for them when boarding.
On most Azuma services coach C in is set aside for Standard Class passengers without reservations, though there is no guarantee that spare seats will be available in coach C when boarding.
Then when you're in the seating saloon look for the green lights on the strip above the windows, a green light indicates that haven't been reserved at all, so are available for an entire journey.
The image below shows the interior of coach C, hence every seat having a green light.
In other coaches green lights indicate available seats, but if you can't see any green lights look for the orange lights, they indicate that a seat has been reserved only for some of the journey.
So check the text by the orange light; in this example if you were to board the train at Edinburgh, this seat numbered would be available.
As a last resort check the seats which are marked by a red light, as the passengers which booked them may not have boarded.
In those circumstances the red light will remain on, but the seat will actually be available for an entire journey.
Assisted travel:
These trains have both wheelchair spaces and seats with additional leg-room, but even if you don’t require these specific services, the LNER assisted travel team can help with planning a journey and booking tickets.
Bicycles:
Bike rack storage spaces are available for non-folding bicycles - more info is available here.
Spaces for non-folding bikes must be reserved ahead of travel, but these bike spaces can’t be booked online, instead you can call the LNER support team on 03457 225 111.
ShowMeTheJourney recommends booking your bike space and travel tickets on the same call.
Using the seating plan
When booking on the LNER website it will automatically assign seats, but there is the option to use a seating plan to check the position of the seat(s) you have been placed in - and more crucially you can use it to select alternative seat(s).
The trick is to take up the option of clicking on the 'Manage your seat reservations' tool.
This is an example of a seating plan for a First Class coach, the Second Class coaches will have different layout.
The seat(s) that has assigned will be highlighted in green.
Seats which have already been reserved by other travellers are greyed out.
The non-numbered rectangles are the tables and note the position of the luggage racks is also marked.
Those who want to face forward can use the Direction of travel arrow and the shapes of the seats; back of the seat = straight edge, front of the seat = rounded.
If you will be travelling to/from destinations to the north of Newcastle and want to be sat the side of the train with the sea views, choose seats on the opposite side of the train to the Direction of travel arrow.
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