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Evening Standard

National

Tom Place

Train operator axes London services ahead of 'summer of chaos' as strikes looms

London EMR Nottingham Sheffield Oliver Coppard Hitachi Rail RMT East Midlands Railway (Organization) St Pancras International

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has cancelled a number of its London services “until further notice” due to a problem with a new fleet of trains - leaving passengers facing a “summer of chaos”.

The operator has said that reliability and maintenance issues with the new Aurora (Class 810) trains, made by Hitachi Rail, were to blame for the reduction.

The Aurora trains were first introduced in December, following a three-year delay.

However, EMR has outlined problems with both the 810s and the older Class 222s, which are affecting the toilets, air conditioning and catering equipment.

The Class 222 trains have also required "additional maintenance support to accommodate increased running and operational requirements".

The new fleet of East Midlands Railway trains has been beset with issues (PA Archive)

One passenger on a service from St Pancras to Nottingham on Friday, July 17, told The Standard that the service was beset with issues.

The train had to connect with a service behind after suffering maintenance issues, before terminating early at Leicester.

The diverted journey, experienced without air conditioning on a sweltering afternoon, arrived in Nottingham via a second train almost three hours behind schedule.

As a result of the problems with the fleet, many Intercity services have now been cancelled, while other services will run with fewer carriages.

A statement from National Rail 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 in place while "EMR works with the manufacturer, Hitachi Rail, to resolve disruption for customers as soon as possible".

The changes are affecting several Intercity services run between London and destinations including Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln, Derby and Sheffield.

Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppard has slammed EMR over the problems (PA Wire)

The operator added that the rollout of the new Class 810 fleet would continue "in a controlled manner" throughout the rest of the year and 2027.

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".

South Yorkshire's mayor Oliver Coppard slammed EMR for the changes, saying they had left passengers "facing a summer of chaos".

Mr Coppard said: "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."

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 with the operator 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 now planned for Saturday August 1 and the following two Saturdays.

Workers at EMR are to strike in a dispute over safety (PA)

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 that the Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet met the required safety standards, and that the company continued "to engage in discussions with RMT regarding this dispute".

They added that the fleet entered passenger service after "successfully completing all required testing and meeting rigorous safety standards".

"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."