Union plans new strikes over train safety concerns

Fresh strike dates have been announced for union members working at East Midlands Railway (EMR) over "safety concerns" with a new fleet of trains.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union has been in dispute with EMR since April following the rollout of the Aurora (Class 810 fleet), which it said had been operating with a "significant number" of faults.

The union said its members would strike for 48 hours from 30 August - the bank holiday weekend - and for 24 hours on 16 September, following three strikes on Saturdays in August.

EMR previously said "no safety-critical faults have been identified that prevent the trains from meeting regulatory requirements for passenger service".

RMT members are continuing to take action "short of strike", including refusing to work on Class 810 trains, which were brought into service in December 2025.

Ahead of the strikes in August, the union said 16 trains in service required "a full auxiliary reset, leaving trains with no active safety systems including loss of communication between train drivers, dispatchers and trackside".

The union's general secretary Eddie Dempsey highlighted faulty toilets, broken air con systems, communication and door issues, as well as seeing trains stranded on the track as the issues.

He said: "RMT is demanding that whilst these faults exist and until these trains are shown to be operating properly, they should be taken out of service.

"It is now time for EMR management to act on the safety concerns of our members."

On Friday, EMR said it had met union representatives six times for "constructive discussions" and said it was working with Hitachi Rail to ensure concerns were being properly addressed.

Philippa Cresswell, EMR customer experience director, said: "We understand how important it is for our customers to have certainty about their travel plans and recognise the uncertainty and disruption this strike action will cause, particularly over the August bank holiday.

"Our teams are currently working through the detail of our service plan and assessing what services we will be able to operate on the affected days."

The railway firm added EMR Regional services will not be affected by the strike action.

The newly announced strikes will run from for 24 hours from 00:01 BST on 30 August to 23:59 on 31 August, and for 12 hours from 16 September to 11:59 on 17 September.

EMR reduced services in July due to "reliability issues" with the new Class 810 trains.

Hitachi Rail previously said it had increased its capacity for "modifications and testing", and was working with all partners to resolve the issues.

EMR has since announced it will reinstate some cancelled Intercity services from the end of August.

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