The summer timetable came into effect nationally on Sunday 17th May 2026.  There is little change for the EMR Intercity service.  The May 2026 timetable can be obtained from EMR’s website here: https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/media/5762/download?inline

On various weekends in 2026, engineering work means that the main line south of Bedford is closed. 
EMR trains terminate there, with connecting rail replacement buses to and from Hitchin and onward trains between there and Kings Cross.
EMR Intercity trains operate hourly in each direction between Bedford and Nottingham, calling at Market Harborough, and hourly between Bedford and Sheffield via Derby, not stopping at Market Harborough.
This has meant that our services are cut by half to hourly on these weekends.
We in Harborough Rail Users approached EMR querying whether there is sufficient demand to justify hourly non-stop trains between Leicester and Bedford when the line into London is closed.  We suggested that these trains would be more useful if they stopped at Market Harborough and Kettering as well, restoring a half-hourly service from our station.  
To our delight, EMR contacted us on 7th May to say that they would do just that!  Too short notice for the weekend of 9th – 10th May but in place for the weekends of 20th – 21st June and 27th – 28th June.  
We are grateful to EMR for listening to our proposal, giving it due consideration and putting it into effect.

Each year, EMR and Network Rail have a Community Action Day, when members of their staff are given the opportunity to take a break from the day job and do some community work instead.  On 6th May 2026, this meant coming to Market Harborough station to help Market Harborough in Bloom Volunteers in a working party at the station. 
Market Harborough in Bloom are the officially designated ‘Station Adopters’ and do a sterling job maintaining the planting boxes at various locations around the station.  This helps greatly in softening the rather functional platforms and making the station a colourful and welcoming gateway to the town. 
The tasks this year included replenishing some of the planting boxes alongside the emergency exit path behind Platform 2 and weeding the gravel areas and by various walls.  Harborough Rail Users were also represented.  We are grateful to everyone involved in this work to enhance the appearance of the station. 

In the first few months of 2026, train cancellations have been a significant problem at Market Harborough.  This is partly the result of the delayed introduction of our new Class 810 Aurora bi-mode trains, especially as the first five of our Class 222 Meridian diesel trains have already been transferred away for another operator.  The depleted fleet and insufficient new trains have left EMR with a shortage of rolling stock on the main line.    
Some services have often been cancelled.  Our 06:18 to Nottingham on weekdays is an example.  To be fair, EMR sometimes - though not always - add extra stops on adjacent fast trains that are running.  For example, when our 06:18 to Nottingham is cancelled, the 05:27 St Pancras to Sheffield may call here at about 06:25, which is a good alternative, with connections from Long Eaton to Nottingham.  
However, cancellations reached such level that we wrote to EMR expressing serious concern.  For example, 9 of our 70 trains, nearly 13%, on 25th March.  If the shortage of rolling stock is such that the published timetable simply cannot be delivered, it would be better to withdraw some services temporarily than have random cancellations.  People could then plan their journeys with more certainty.
In response, EMR invited Steve Jones, Chair of Harborough Rail Users, to a meeting with their Commercial Director at their Derby HQ on 9th April 2026.  This was a very constructive meeting, at which our concerns and EMR’s responses were discussed.  We have been in correspondence since on this and other topics affecting users of Market Harborough station.  These topics include:

• the persistent late arrival into St Pancras of our first two trains on Sunday mornings;
• management of disruption and information given to passengers when things do go wrong, as they inevitably will from time to time;
• engineering work and the related temporary timetables and rail-replacement buses; and
• the corrosion on the footbridge. 

EMR are looking into all of these matters.

Harborough Rail Users Committee met at the Red Cow pub in Market Harborough on Monday evening 9th March.  This was a routine meeting and the main topic discussed was the delayed introduction of the new Class 810 Aurora bi-mode train fleet and its implications. The delivery of these trains is very late.  This plus the reduced fleet of Class 222 Meridian diesel trains as the first ones are transferred away for use by open access operator Lumo for London – Scotland services, means we have an increasingly evident shortage of rolling stock for our services at Market Harborough. Trains are too often being cancelled or short-formed (five instead of ten carriages) or have other faults such as toilets not working. We have taken this up with EMR, but it is clear that the remaining diesel fleet is being ‘sweated’, with insufficient spare capacity until the new fleet is fully in service.
The general growth in rail business has exacerbated overcrowding on our trains.  This problem is especially severe when weekend engineering work closes the parallel East Coast Main Line between King’s Cross and Peterborough, with many LNER passengers using EMR services instead.
Other topics covered included the new ANPR car park payment system, which appears to be working well; congestion in the station approach road and forecourt; and concern about the closure of access from the platforms to the middle footbridge at Nottingham station, which is an important interchange point for passengers from Market Harborough.