Northern Lights (train)

The Northern Lights is a named British passenger train operated by London North Eastern Railway. It runs daily in each direction between London King's Cross and Aberdeen via the East Coast Main Line and Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line. The northbound service departs London King's Cross at 10:00 am, and the southbound service departs Aberdeen at 09:52 am. The route is one of the longest in Britain at 523 miles (842 km) and the train takes just over seven hours to cover the journey. London North Eastern Railway operates another two services in each direction between London and Aberdeen as well as one each day to and from Leeds.

Northern Lights

London North Eastern Railway Class 800 Azuma at Aberdeen
Overview
Service type	Passenger train
Current operator(s)	London North Eastern Railway
Former operator(s)	Virgin Trains East Coast East Coast National Express East Coast GNER InterCity East Coast British Rail
Route
Termini	London King's Cross Aberdeen
Distance travelled	523 miles (842 km)
Average journey time	7 hours
Service frequency	Daily
Train number(s)	1W11 (previously 1S11) (northbound) 1E15 (southbound)
Line(s) used	East Coast Edinburgh to Aberdeen
Technical
Rolling stock	Class 800 Azuma
Operating speed	125 mph (201 km/h)

The Northern Lights route map
Aberdeen Stonehaven Montrose Arbroath Dundee Leuchars Kirkcaldy Inverkeithing Haymarket Edinburgh Waverley Scotland / England Berwick upon Tweed Newcastle Darlington York London Kings Cross

Operation

Presently both of the services are operated by a Class 800 Azuma. This is a bi-modal train due to the line being diesel only beyond Haymarket, with the train being on electric power to and from the latter.

Current

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed
				mph	km/h
Hitachi AT300	Class 800 Azuma		Bi-mode multiple unit	125	200

Until December 2019, the Northern Lights service was operated by an InterCity 125 HST for a number of years until the whole fleet of HSTs were replaced by the Azuma fleet.

Past

Trainset	Class	Image	Type	Top speed
				mph	km/h
InterCity 125	Class 43		Locomotive	125	200
	Mark 3		Passenger coach