EMR warns passengers 'may not be able to board'

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has warned passengers should carry out "essential travel only" over the Bank Holiday due to strike action.

The operator said it will have a "significantly reduced" service on Sunday and Monday, with a queueing system for boarding at London St Pancras and Sheffield. It warned "it may not be possible to board your intended service".

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has been in dispute with EMR since April over the rollout of the Aurora (Class 810 fleet), which it said had operated with a "significant number" of faults.

After industrial action on three Saturdays in August, it announced more strikes while what EMR called "constructive discussions" continued.

EMR previously said "no safety-critical faults have been identified that prevented the trains from meeting regulatory requirements for passenger service".

On Sunday and Monday, EMR will run a reduced timetable from around 08:00 to 19:00 BST.

Customers are advised to only travel if their journey is "absolutely essential", allow extra time at stations, and to check their full journey, including first and last trains, before travelling.

It added that on Sunday there will be no LNER trains between London King's Cross and Peterborough as part of digital signalling upgrades being carried out by Network Rail, leading to increased demand.

Philippa Cresswell, EMR customer experience director, said: "We recognise how frustrating this disruption will be for customers, particularly following the three Saturdays affected by RMT strike action earlier this month, and we are very sorry for the impact this will have on August Bank Holiday plans.

"We continue to have constructive discussions with the RMT and have met with the union six times as we work towards resolving the issues at the heart of this dispute."

Further strikes will take place on 16 and 17 September, RMT said.

EMR reduced services in July due to "reliability issues" with the new Class 810 trains.

Hitachi Rail previously said it had increased its capacity for "modifications and testing", and was working with all partners to resolve the issues.

EMR has since announced it will reinstate some cancelled Intercity services from the end of August.

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