Mayor says rail service 'isn't acceptable'

The Mayor of the East Midlands says the level of service disruption on East Midlands Railway (EMR) due to a string of train faults "isn't acceptable".

EMR previously said there were reliability and maintenance issues with the new Aurora (Class 810) trains made by Hitachi Rail. It also outlined "challenges" with both the 810s and the older Class 222s, affecting the toilets, air conditioning and catering equipment.

Labour Mayor Claire Ward said people living in the East Midlands deserved "much better" rail services.

EMR said there were "service reliability issues" with a new fleet of trains and a reduced timetable would remain in place while it works with the manufacturer.

"I think what we've seen over the last few weeks is a level of service that quite frankly isn't acceptable from EMR," said Ward.

"People in the East Midlands region deserve much better of their rail services."

She added she hoped EMR would work with staff, passenger groups and trade unions to "correct this challenge as quickly as possible".

This comes as the RMT union - which represents railway staff - took strike action on Saturday, and said its members would take 24-hour strike action on Saturday and the following two Saturdays.

EMR said it had been notified by RMT that members would be taking action short of a strike, from 2 to 7 August , 9 to 14 August and 16 August until further notice.

The RMT union said it had been in dispute with EMR since April following the rollout of the 810 fleet (Aurora), which it said had been operating with a "significant number" of faults.

John Watson, RMT Midlands region organiser, said: "We've had numerous rounds of talks over this matter that just hasn't resolved the issue.

"We've asked for these trains to be taken out of service until they're fit to be working.

"When they work perfectly, they're a lovely train - and that's the feedback we're getting from our members, but there's that many issues with them, they're having more faults than they are good days."

Philippa Cresswell, customer experience director at East Midlands Railway, said the company was "sorry to customers" whose journeys would be affected by industrial action.

"EMR continues to engage in constructive discussions with the RMT in the hope of resolving this dispute as quickly as possible.

"The dispute relates to concerns raised about the introduction of our new Class 810 Aurora fleet.

"Any suggestion that the trains do not meet the required safety standards is incorrect.

"The Class 810 fleet entered passenger service only after successfully completing all required testing and meeting the rigorous safety standards required by the independent regulator," Cresswell added.

EMR said the rollout of the new Class 810 fleet would continue "in a controlled manner" throughout the rest of the year and 2027.

"We understand that these temporary timetable changes on our Intercity route may cause inconvenience, and we have worked hard to minimise the impact on customers wherever possible," an EMR spokesperson previously said.

"These changes have become necessary following a three-year delay in the first Class 810 trains coming into service, together with ongoing service reliability and maintenance issues across both the 810 and 222 fleets.

"These factors have impacted our ability to consistently deliver the reliable Intercity service our customers rightly expect."

Additional reporting by Pete Saull and Shannon Samecki

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