LNER celebrates Azuma first birthday with the chance to name a train

LNER will today celebrate a full year since the world-class Azuma train launched into passenger service on the LNER route.

In the past 12 months, Azuma has carried over 4.5 million passengers more than five million miles in more style, comfort and with the best WiFi than ever before on the route.

To celebrate Azuma’s first birthday, LNER is inviting the public to become part of railway history with the chance to name an Azuma train.

LNER is encouraging customers to get creative and submit names which reflect the picturesque LNER route, notable destinations, community heroes or rail icons from history.

The new names will be selected based on relevance to the LNER route and the communities served by the new Azuma fleet, and will be decided by a selection panel compromising of representatives from LNER communities, the rail industry and colleagues.

The newly formed Azuma Naming Panel is tasked with the role of leading the process to select the first 10 names for Azuma trains. The panel will review existing names from the legacy fleet to be retained or retired before moving on to selecting the first tranche of names for the Azuma fleet from the suggestions received.

LNER Managing Director David Horne said the first anniversary of Azuma in service is the perfect opportunity to include LNER customers and communities in the celebrations with the opportunity to name a train.

“The LNER route that Azuma now travels is incredibly exciting, taking us from the misty Scottish Highlands to the city skyline of London and all of our destinations in between,” he said.

“We’re proud to start the next stage of the Azuma journey by honouring our customers and the communities we serve with this opportunity to create history.

“This is our chance to take the Azuma fleet into the LNER history books by selecting the train names that will last a generation. We’re excited to see the creativity of people from right along our route, and as LNER has quite a history of great train names, we very much welcome suggestions for this fantastic new fleet.”

Azuma services are connecting new communities such as Harrogate and offering extra services to destinations like Lincoln, making train travel even more accessible and customers better connected.

Members of the public can enter their name suggestions by visiting www.lner.co.uk to submit a name for consideration by the panel.

Train name suggestions are open until 1 June 2020. The best entries will be decided by the Azuma Naming Panel with the new names being drawn from a shortlist later this year.