East Midlands Railway has introduced a temporary reduced Intercity timetable from Monday July 20, blaming persistent performance and reliability problems with Hitachi Rail’s new Class 810 fleet and the manufacturer’s maintenance of EMR’s existing Class 222 trains.
The Class 810 was meant to provide a smooth transition from the Class 222, with both fleets running alongside each other under Hitachi Rail’s maintenance during the handover period. However, a three-year delay to the Class 810’s entry into service, combined with ongoing reliability issues across both fleets, has left EMR unable to run a consistent Intercity service.
The Class 810 meets all required safety standards and entered service with the necessary regulatory approvals in place, but operational reliability has remained well below acceptable levels, leaving frontline staff trying to deliver customer service with trains not presented in the condition they or their passengers deserve.
“The performance of the Class 810 fleet has fallen below the levels we and our customers expect,” said Will Rogers, Managing Director at East Midlands Railway. “We are sorry for the significant disruption and inconvenience these issues have caused our customers, and we are committed to restoring the reliable service they rightly expect.”
The reduced timetable will remain in place while EMR works with Hitachi Rail to resolve the issues. The roll-out of the Class 810 will continue in a controlled manner through 2026 and 2027.
Passengers who have already booked a ticket on a cancelled service can travel on the two trains before or after their original departure. Those who prefer not to travel are entitled to a full refund. Further information is available at eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/reducedtimetable.
