From Newsgroup: uk.railway

From the BBC

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.

The company announced on Wednesday that it would reinstate some priority services from 31 August after a 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 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 and Hitachi previously said they were working together on an "agreed
action plan" to improve the new fleet and the older Class 222 fleet.

The RMT union said ongoing problems with the new fleet included a fault requiring an "auxiliary on/auxiliary off" reset, issues with driver access
to cabins, problems with staff accessing emergency equipment, and access to toilets.

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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