East Midlands Railway (EMR) has cancelled a number of its London services “until further notice” due to problems with a new fleet of trains, leaving passengers facing a “summer of chaos”.
Service cuts due to train reliability issues
The operator said reliability and maintenance issues with the new Aurora (Class 810) trains, made by Hitachi Rail, were to blame. The Aurora trains were first introduced in December after a three-year delay. EMR outlined problems with both the 810s and older Class 222s, affecting toilets, air conditioning and catering equipment. The Class 222 trains have also required “additional maintenance support to accommodate increased running and operational requirements”.
Many Intercity services have now been cancelled, while others will run with fewer carriages. A National Rail statement said: “East Midlands Railway have introduced a temporary reduced Intercity timetable to help provide a more consistent and reliable service whilst they address issues with the performance and reliability of their trains. This is expected to be in place until further notice.”
EMR said the timetable changes would remain while the operator works with Hitachi Rail to resolve disruption. The changes affect services between London and Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln, Derby and Sheffield.
Passenger impact and political backlash
One passenger on a service from St Pancras to Nottingham on Friday, July 17, told The Standard the service was beset with issues. The train had to connect with a service behind after maintenance issues, terminated early at Leicester, and arrived in Nottingham via a second train almost three hours behind schedule without air conditioning.
South Yorkshire’s mayor Oliver Coppard slammed EMR, saying passengers were “facing a summer of chaos”. He added: “Apparently this is a temporary measure but we have no idea for how long. There is never a good reason to treat passengers with so much contempt as to communicate that information so late and so poorly.”
Strike action looms over safety concerns
The RMT union has announced plans for its members at EMR to take strike action over safety concerns regarding the new fleet. The union said it had been in dispute since April, claiming the fleet had been operating with a “significant number” of faults and that EMR has been sending trains into service that are “likely to fail and require a full reset which leaves the train with no active safety systems”. Strike action is planned for Saturday August 1 and the following two Saturdays.
Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said: “The company has even put out safety notices with no involvement, consultation or negotiation with our reps who represent those most at risk. RMT is demanding that whilst these faults exist and until these trains are shown to be operating properly, they should be taken out of service.”
An EMR spokesperson said the Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet met required safety standards and that the company continued to engage in discussions with RMT. They added that the fleet entered passenger service after “successfully completing all required testing and meeting rigorous safety standards”. The spokesperson said: “We recognise the Class 810 fleet has encountered performance and reliability issues in service and are working with the manufacturer, Hitachi Rail, to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”
Will Rogers, managing director of EMR, said the performance of the new fleet had “fallen below the levels we and our customers expect”, and that the timetable change was “necessary”.
Cancelled services list
Weekdays: Southbound: 05:14 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 08:15 Melton Mowbray - Kettering, 09:50 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 10:50 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 12:00 Sheffield - London St Pancras, 14:35 Sheffield - London St Pancras, 16:50 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 17:00 Sheffield - London St Pancras, 20:28 Sheffield - Derby. Northbound: 06:06 Kettering - Nottingham, 07:35 London St Pancras - Nottingham, 08:35 London St Pancras - Nottingham, 09:32 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 12:02 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 14:32 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 14:35 London St Pancras - Nottingham, 17:32 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 19:32 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 19:38 Kettering - Melton Mowbray, 21:05 London St Pancras - Nottingham. Saturdays: Southbound: 07:12 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 11:50 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 16:35 Sheffield - London St Pancras, 19:50 Nottingham - London St Pancras. Northbound: 06:00 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 07:02 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 07:35 London St Pancras - Nottingham, 09:35 London St Pancras - Nottingham, 14:02 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 19:02 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 19:35 London St Pancras - Nottingham. Sundays: Southbound: 15:47 Nottingham - London St Pancras, 15:51 Sheffield - London St Pancras. Northbound: 18:05 London St Pancras - Nottingham, 18:32 London St Pancras - Sheffield, 20:32 London St Pancras - Sheffield.
