Harborough Rail Users are holding their 2025 Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 26th November 2025.  The meeting starts at 7:00pm, in the Coffee Lounge at the Methodist Church Centre on Northampton Road, Market Harborough.
As well as electing officers for the group for the forthcoming year, the meeting will consider relevant topics including reviewing the past year.  We are particularly pleased that EMR are reinstating from 15th December our later last train from London, the 23:35 from St Pancras, on weekday evenings.
Campaign priorities for the forthcoming year will also be considered.  Among these are the introduction of our new train fleet and possible future associated timetable changes arising from electrification of the line.
Anyone who cares about Market Harborough's station and rail service is invited to come along.  No need to book; just turn up. 
​If you would like to stand for election to the Committee, or nominate someone else (with their consent), please contact Harborough Rail Users via our Get in Touch facility at the top of the screen, or email us at [email protected].

For a number of years now, our last train back from London on a weekday evening has been the 22:35 from St Pancras (22:31 on Saturdays). 
This is too early for an evening out in London.  There are later trains from London on weekdays, at 23:04 and 23:35, but these currently run via Corby and Manton Junction, bypassing Market Harborough.  One reason has been the overnight electrification work, but this is now complete.
Along with Harborough MP Neil O’Brien, we have been pressing EMR for reinstatement of a later last train for some time.
EMR have announced that from Monday 15th December, the 23:35 from St Pancras will call at Market Harborough (arr 01:13).

​EMR caution, however, that one week in six, this train will return to the Corby and Manton route, bypassing Market Harborough.  However, when that happens, there will be a bus connection from Kettering.  The reason is that the Corby and Manton route is often used for diversions when the line through Market Harborough is closed, e.g. for engineering work.  Train crews need to maintain up-to-date route knowledge, so this train will be used for that purpose one week in six.  It means that diversions can be put in place at short notice if need be.

EMR have announced that many of their station car parks are to have Automatic Number Plate Recognition, ANPR, technology installed, starting later in October. 
Market Harborough is included, along with Kettering and Wellingborough, in November 2025. (Market Harborough will receive its ANPR equipment on 24th November 2025, which will come into use a day or two later.)
ANPR uses cameras to capture and recognise vehicle registration numbers, helping to manage car park access more efficiently and securely. EMR are working with car park operator APCOA and the system replaces car park tickets and card permits. 
EMR advise that customers will need to pay on arrival, within 30 minutes of entry.  Drop-off and pick-up zones included in ANPR areas will have a 30-minute free period.  As pick-up and drop spaces at Market Harborough are very limited, this is a significant advantage. If a journey is disrupted and customers return after their pre-paid day parking has expired, any extra charges can be refunded via APCOA's customer service team. 
Parking for Blue Badge holders will become park free of charge.  This is a major improvement, but users must register their vehicle in advance with APCOA.
Customers will continue to be charged a day rate while using the car parks - as is the case currently.  They will be able to pay for parking in the following ways:

• Paystations at stations
• Cash at station ticket offices - but only when the ticket office is open
• By phone (An automated telephony system)
• ScanPay (By scanning a QR code on signs at the station)
• By the APCOA Connect App
• On the APCOA website, including Auto-pay functionality to automatically charge each time the customer parks

More information about the ANPR system, including frequently asked questions, can be found here: https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/anpr-car-parking
ANPR is well established at other stations around the country.  We in Harborough Rail Users welcome some of the changes ANPR will bring, not least because the car park barriers can be temperamental!  We are also pleased that Blue Badge holders will be able to park free of charge, subject to registering their vehicle beforehand.
​We have raised some questions with EMR regarding concessions for the station adopters (the volunteers who maintain the flower planters around the station) and the degree of flexibility allowed for car park season-ticket holders.  

The next open committee meeting of Harborough Rail Users has been arranged for Monday 15th September 2025, starting at 7:00pm, in the upstairs room* at The Red Cow pub on High Street, Market Harborough.
Anyone who cares about the local rail service, including timetables, reliability, fares, and the facilities available at the station, is invited to come along.  No need to book, just turn up.
* Unfortunately, this room is only accessible via stairs.

The first of our new fleet of bi-mode trains, No.810008, has been officially accepted into EMR’s fleet.  This follows a process of testing and formal acceptance by the operator, and the unit officially joined the fleet on 8th August. 
The 33 Class 810 Hitachi Aurora trains will replace the current fleet of 27 Class 222 Meridian diesel trains, which will transfer to other operators.  Though each will have five cars, the same as most of the Meridians, they will have a greater seating capacity.  This plus the larger fleet will help to address the overcrowding that has returned to many services with the recovery of passenger numbers post-Covid.
Crew training is now under way on the new trains.  If you would like to see one in Market Harborough, go to the station for 14:20 on weekday afternoons.  At the time of writing, there is a regular empty stock run southbound. It starts at Derby Etches Park depot at 13:00 and runs across to Nottingham.  From there, it departs at 13:43 to run to St Pancras, calling at Leicester (dep 14:08), Kettering (14:30), and, interestingly, Luton (15:10). Remember, it is not for public use!  It passes through Market Harborough at 14:20, having changed from diesel to electric power at Wigston.  This means that regular electric trains are now running through Market Harborough!   
We look forward to the introduction of the new fleet into full service.