Credit: East Midlands Railway
Transport for the North's Rail North Committee today welcomed updates from East Midlands Railway (EMR) on plans to restore services and support passengers following recent disruption and reduced intercity services affecting journeys to and from South Yorkshire.
Committee members heard that EMR restored five weekday Sheffield services from 1 September, returning the timetable to around 92% of previous service levels and adding 45 services back in each week. The operator is also exploring options to increase capacity while new trains are brought into service.
The Committee pressed for a clearer timetable for the return of a full intercity service, emphasising the need for clear communication, timely information and visible support for passengers as services recover.
Neil Grabham, Managing Director of East Midlands Railway, acknowledged that performance had fallen below the standards expected by EMR and passengers and apologised for the disruption experienced in recent weeks. He outlined a recovery plan focused on improving fleet reliability, exploring additional rolling stock options and assurance as more new trains are brought into service. He also confirmed that EMR continues to hold discussions with trade unions and partners while working to restore the full timetable as quickly as possible.
Members welcomed the service improvements introduced from 1 September, alongside more support for passengers, including additional staffed information kiosks at key stations, extra travel information and enhanced ticket acceptance arrangements with other operators.
The Committee’s discussion builds on engagement between Mayor Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority and EMR to improve the passenger experience during disruption. This has included calls to make better use of available capacity by opening unused First Class seats when trains are overcrowded.
More widely, the Committee reflected on the challenges on introducing new rolling stock and whether there are lessons to be learnt. They agreed to raise this wider concern with government and industry partners directly to support the introduction of new trains to the North in future.