Rail operator set to reinstate key train services

East Midlands Railway (EMR) will reinstate some cancelled Intercity services from the end of August.

EMR reduced services in July due to "reliability issues" with a new fleet of Aurora (Class 810) trains, made by Hitachi, which were brought into service in December 2025 - after what EMR said was a three-year delay.

The company announced on Wednesday that it would reinstate some priority services from 31 August after the reduced timetable delivered some "stabilisation".

EMR said its Intercity operations would increase from 87% to 92% of its full planned timetable, with key Nottingham and Sheffield services among those to be reinstated.

EMR has confirmed it will reinstate five weekday and three weekend services on its Sheffield route, along with three weekday and one weekend service on its Nottingham route.

Neil Grabham, EMR's interim managing director, said: "The reduced timetable we introduced on 20 July was a difficult but necessary step to ensure we could offer a consistent and reliable service while working through the Intercity fleet challenges with Hitachi Rail, Rock Rail and other partners.

"We are now seeing encouraging signs that the reduced timetable has delivered the stability we were aiming for, and while there is still more work ahead with Hitachi Rail, this stabilisation represents an important milestone."

EMR said that by "aligning the timetable more closely with the number of trains currently available", it had "achieved greater operational stability".

A spokesperson said this had reduced short-notice cancellations and delivered a more dependable service on the Midland Main Line.

EMR's announcement comes after the operator outlined "challenges" with both the 810s and the older Class 222s, affecting the toilets, air conditioning and catering equipment.

As a result, EMR put in place a reduced timetable, which it said would remain in place while it worked with Hitachi.

According to the RMT union - which has taken strike action over safety concerns at EMR over the past two Saturdays - 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".

The BBC has seen an operational briefing, which informs control, signalling and operations staff about undertaking an Aux Off / Aux On reset on EMR class 810 units - which may be required to recover certain faults.

After the first day of RMT strike action on 1 August, Labour regional mayor Claire Ward said people living in the East Midlands deserved "much better" rail services.

An EMR spokesperson previously said any suggestion that the Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet did not meet the required safety standards was "incorrect".

EMR and Hitachi previously said they were working together on an "agreed action plan" to improve the new and older fleets.

A Hitachi Rail spokesperson said its "agreed action plan" with EMR - which it was implementing across both the Class 810 and Class 222 fleets - was "delivering progress".

"As part of the plan, we have increased maintenance activity on the Class 222 fleet, while also working with our supply chain to improve the availability of materials and components for the legacy fleet," the spokesperson added.

"In parallel, we have invested in additional capacity at Long Marston Innovation Centre to conduct modifications and testing on the Class 810s to support the transition from older to newer trains and improve the situation over the long-term.

"In combination, these actions are helping to rectify the situation.

"We would like to apologise again to passengers for the inconvenience caused and reiterate that we remain focused on working with EMR and all partners to deliver further improvements."

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