Mayor says East Midlands Railway service ‘isnt acceptable’

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