A union has announced plans for rail strikes after warning that East Midlands Railway (EMR) is sending trains into service that are "likely to fail and require a full reset which leaves the train with no active safety systems".
The RMT said its members at EMR will walk out on Saturday 1 August and the following two Saturdays. The dispute has been running since April, following the rollout of the Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet, known as Aurora trains, which the union claims have been operating with a "significant number" of faults.
“RMT union plans three Saturdays of strikes on East Midlands Railway over safety concerns with the new 810 Aurora trains.”
An operational briefing seen by the BBC warns that an "Aux Off / Aux On reset" – a process that takes approximately 20 minutes – may be required to recover certain faults on the 810 units. The briefing states that the reset results in "the temporary loss of several safety-critical systems, creating an increased risk of an uncontrolled evacuation and removing the driver's normal means of communication with the signaller".
Eddie Dempsey, RMT general secretary, said union representatives at EMR had been "extremely patient" and tried to engage with management. "The company has even put out safety notices with no involvement, consultation or negotiation with our reps who represent those most at risk," he said. "RMT is demanding that whilst these faults exist and until these trains are shown to be operating properly, they should be taken out of service."
An EMR spokesperson rejected the safety allegations, saying any suggestion that the Class 810 fleet did not meet required safety standards was "incorrect". The operator said the trains entered passenger service after "successfully completing all required testing and meeting rigorous safety standards". However, EMR acknowledged "performance and reliability issues" with the 810s and said it was working with Hitachi Rail to resolve them. Last week, EMR blamed reliability and maintenance issues for problems with both the new Aurora trains and the older Class 222s, which have affected toilets, air conditioning and catering equipment.
The Aurora trains were first introduced into passenger service in December after what EMR said was a three-year delay. The RMT's strike threat comes as the operator continues to face operational challenges across its fleet.