East Midlands Railway: Rolling Stock
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason trains were moved away from East Midlands Railway prior to the arrival of new rolling stock.
Answered by Keir Mather
East Midlands Railway (EMR) is currently overseen by Department for Transport Operator Ltd. (DFTO), prior to its transfer into public ownership. EMR’s new Aurora bi-mode trains have already started to enter passenger service, and these will continue with a phased roll-out through the remainder of 2026.
The withdrawal of the current Intercity trains (Class 222s) was planned to coincide with the introduction of the new trains, however, delivery of the Auroras to EMR has been delayed. Because the Class 222's are scheduled to be used by other train operators, there have been some instances where a Class 222 train has had to leave EMR before the corresponding Aurora train enters service.
EMR have put in place plans to minimise the impact on passengers where this happens. This means that, to maintain the existing timetable, a small number of services may operate with shorter trains than usual during this transition period.
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