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A trade union has called a rail strike over safety concerns at the operator of two trains involved in a fatal crash last month.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said it had “growing safety concerns” about East Midlands Railway’s (EMR) new fleet of Class 810 Aurora trains, which it claims had been “operating with a significant number of faults”.
It alleged that a procedure used by drivers to clear one of those faults resulted in safety systems becoming unavailable. Union members are so concerned about safety they are going on strike on the first three Saturdays in August, the RMT said.
EMR was the operator of both trains involved in a fatal crash near Bedford, which left a train driver dead and 162 people injured, most of whom were taken to hospital.
The procedure highlighted by the RMT “effectively turns all train systems off, and then on again, causing a period of approximately 20 minutes where essential safety systems become unavailable”, Rail magazine reported, citing a union document.
Drivers were told they must ensure the signaller was aware of the fault and that a track closure and alternative means of communication were in place, the magazine added.
Eddie Dempsey, the union’s general secretary, called for the Aurora trains to be taken out of service until 25 problems were fixed.
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.
“The company has even put out safety notices with no involvement, consultation or negotiation with our reps who represent those most at risk.”
A union spokesman added that temperatures aboard the trains were regularly reaching 30C amid problems that include defects with doors for passengers and the driver, non-operational toilets and faulty air conditioning.
The RMT strike announcement comes after the London-to-Sheffield operator abruptly reduced its services at the start of this week.
EMR said it was cutting services “until further notice” because problems with the Auroras, built by Hitachi Rail UK, meant it could not service its full timetable.
Will Rogers, the managing director of EMR, told the BBC that the new trains’ performance had “fallen below the levels we and our customers expect” while insisting that the timetable change was “necessary”.
Oliver Coppard, the Mayor of South Yorkshire, criticised the train company over the service cuts, warning that passengers faced a “summer of chaos” as a result.
Mr Coppard said he was “sick to death” of problems with EMR services, telling the BBC: “People are facing delays and inconvenience.
“We have thousands of people coming up to South Yorkshire this weekend for Tramlines, the biggest urban music festival in Europe, trying to work out how to get here.”
The Bedford crash on June 19 occurred after the automatic warning system on an Aurora train suffered a fault which caused the train to come to an unplanned stop.
Shortly afterwards, the following EMR service struck the rear of it at 49mph. It resulted in the death of Shaun Burton, 60, one of the drivers.
EMR runs trains between London, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham and Sheffield. It was handed £86.3m in taxpayer subsidies in 2024, the latest year for which figures are publicly available.
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The train company failed to respond to questions from The Telegraph about the RMT’s safety allegations.
An EMR spokesman said: “Any suggestion that the Hitachi Rail Class 810 fleet does not meet the required safety standards is incorrect.
“These trains entered passenger service only after successfully completing all required testing and meeting the rigorous safety standards required by the independent regulator.
“We recognise the Class 810 fleet has encountered performance and reliability issues in service and are working with the manufacturer, Hitachi Rail, to resolve these issues as quickly as possible.”
