The coveted ‘Minimising Delay Minutes’ gold award was presented at the Modern Railways ‘Golden Whistle’ awards held in London on Friday 8th March 2024.

The gold award, presented jointly to Hull Trains and sister-company, Lumo, recognises the efforts made by rail operators to reduce delays over an annual average. Hull Trains demonstrated to expert industry judges a consistent reliability and performance on services under its control.

Held in partnership with the Chartered Institution of Railway Operators (CIRO), the Golden Whistle awards are a highlight in the industry calendar each year. Successful organisations are awarded one of two standards: silver or gold.  The top award in this category, gold, won by Hull Trains represents excellent performance, while silver highlights significant improvement.

Lou Mendham, Service Delivery Director at Hull Trains with Jen Claire, Service Delivery Director at

Lou Mendham, Service Delivery Director at Hull Trains, said: “We’re delighted to have secured this Golden Whistle Award for our commitment to safely driving down delays and cancellations. It’s a great honour for Hull Trains to be recognised by the Golden Whistles. We’re immensely proud of the performance and reliability of our service alongside the dedication of our teams who have contributed to us achieving this fantastic accolade and making sure our customers enjoy the best possible service when they travel with us.”

Philip Sherratt, Editor of Modern Railways magazine, said: ‘Usually the smaller operators are not eligible for the statistics-based Golden Whistle Awards, but with Hull Trains and Lumo the top two operators in the category for minimising delay minutes we wanted to recognise the hard work of the teams involved so decided to present them with a special Gold Whistle.

“This award shows that both operators are working hard to reduce the delays over which they have control and have a keen focus on delivering the best performance they can.’

The awards are held annually and feature more than 10 different award categories ranging from right time arrivals to freight performance and other special awards.

Hull Trains has been awarded a top rail industry recognition award

The positive economic contribution of Lumo and Hull Trains was assessed by an independent report launched in February. The combined monetised benefits of Lumo and Hull Trains achieved £765m. Both companies are recording customer levels exceed pre-Covid levels by attracting people from other modes such as road and air.

Hull Trains secures prestigious Golden Whistle Award