Temporary timetable as train cancellation crisis continues

On Friday 17th July, EMR announced that a temporary timetable for its Intercity services would be introduced on Monday 20th July until further notice.  This follows months of cancellations of services because of a shortage of rolling stock, see 9th July story below.  The new Aurora Class 810 bi-mode trains are very late in delivery from builders Hitachi and those that have been accepted into the EMR fleet are proving unreliable in service.  Meanwhile, the diesel Class 222 Meridian units are reduced in number as five have been transferred to open-access operator Lumo for their new Euston – Stirling service.  The remaining 22, from a total fleet of 27, were being worked harder to maintain the timetable, and this has taken a toll on their reliability. 
The temporary timetable therefore removes a number of services on the two Intercity routes; between St Pancras and Nottingham and Sheffield respectively.  Other trains have only five carriages rather than the previous ten.  The Nottingham trains call at Market Harborough, and we have no other train service, so the effect here is significant. 
We in Harborough Rail Users have been in contact both with EMR about this and with Neil O’Brien MP, who has taken the matter up with the Rail Minister.  There has been much anger from other parties along the Midland Main Line about all of this: the cancellations, the reduced timetable and the short notice that was given about it.  However, there have been fewer ad hoc cancellations, as the reduced timetable better reflects the rolling stock available.
One adverse consequence is that our first weekday off-peak train of the day northbound, the 09:36 to Nottingham, has been withdrawn for the duration of the temporary timetable.  Many off-peak fares are only available after 09:30 on weekdays.  We have asked EMR whether off-peak tickets could therefore be made available for the preceding 09:06 train, as the difference between peak and off-peak fares can be substantial.  We await an official answer from EMR but in the meantime, the station staff at Market Harborough have been told they cannot sell off-peak tickets for the earlier train.  This rather flies in the face of the rail industry’s claim that “The Big Rail Fare Freeze is here. Rail fares have been frozen across England until March 2027 for Standard Anytime, Off-Peak and Season tickets”!
We have also asked that additional stops be made at Kettering and Market Harborough on adjacent Sheffield services to cover for withdrawn or cancelled trains.  To their credit, EMR have been doing this from time to time.
At the time of writing, there is no indication of how long the temporary timetable will remain in operation. We have asked EMR whether there is a recovery plan; a reply is awaited at the time of writing.
The temporary timetable can be found on EMR’s website here:
https://www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk/media/5945/download?inline

Standing in for a colleague.  An Aurora train, forming the 08:03 St Pancras to Sheffield, makes an additional call at Market Harborough on Wednesday 22nd July.  This train is normally non-stop from London to Leicester.  On this occasion, however, the 09:06 from Market Harborough to Nottingham was cancelled, despite not being one of the trains withdrawn in the temporary timetable. EMR have sometimes stopped the fast trains at Market Harborough when the usual stopping service has been cancelled.
Picture: Steve Jones