Stories

Tue, 21 Jul 2026

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 Union plans rail strikes over train safety concerns

RMT says it has been in dispute with the rail operator since April, following the rollout of the 810 fleet.

* The RMT union has announced plans for its members at East Midlands Railway (EMR) to take strike action over "growing safety concerns" due to faults in the 810 fleet (Aurora).
* The union claims that EMR is sending trains into service with "significant numbers of faults" and that passengers are at risk due to a lack of active safety systems.
* An operational briefing seen by the BBC shows that drivers may need to undertake an Aux Off / Aux On reset, which can take 20 minutes and temporarily disables several safety-critical systems.
* The union's general secretary, Eddie Dempsey, accused EMR of failing to engage with RMT reps on safety concerns and of putting out safety notices without consultation.
* An EMR spokesperson said the Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet had undergone rigorous testing and met all required safety standards before entering service.
* EMR acknowledged performance and reliability issues with the new trains but claimed they were working with Hitachi to resolve them quickly.
* The RMT union is demanding that the trains be taken out of service until the faults are fixed.
* Strike action is planned for Saturday 1 August and the following two Saturdays.