Thousands of passengers face disruption to their journeys between London, Sheffield, and Nottingham, as East Midlands Railway (EMR) slashes its Intercity services due to a crisis caused by the new Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet's chronic unreliability. The cancellations, which began on 20 July 2026, are a direct result of the rail operator's struggles to maintain a consistent service.
According to EMR, hundreds of daily trains – including approximately 20 fast services connecting the three cities each day – have been axed until further notice. This reduced timetable aims to provide a more reliable service while the company collaborates with Hitachi Rail to address the issues.
The £1 billion Class 810 fleet was introduced last year, three years behind schedule, but its reliability has fallen short of EMR's expectations, leaving frontline teams struggling to cope with the consistent failures. The company acknowledges that this is placing staff in a difficult position as they attempt to provide good customer service.
Will Rogers, EMR's Managing Director, expressed disappointment at the situation, stating: “The performance of the Class 810 fleet has fallen below levels we and our customers expect, requiring us to introduce temporary timetable changes while working with Hitachi Rail to improve consistency in service.” He added that the company understands passengers' frustration.
Customers booked on affected services have options available – they can request a full refund or travel two trains before or after their scheduled service. However, EMR has refused to speculate how long these timetable changes will remain in place, indicating it will review the situation as reliability issues are addressed.