Class 810 for East Midlands Railway Construction/Introduction Updates

[tfw756rider]

Seats and fitting seem to be the same design as the Azuma and TPE 802

No, the 810 seats are FISA Leans whereas the 800/801/802 seats are Fainsa Sophias.

 

[Trainman40083]

I had my first run on an 810 on Saturday returning from the GCR Diesel gala and I joined a late running 1F47 14.32 St Pancras - Sheffield on 810012.
The train stood in Loughborough for 8 mins with the Guard talking to a passenger - something about reservations which were missing from the set.

On departure at 16.08 - 21 late we then got checked at Sheet Stores for a late running Lincoln - Crewe and the Guard then announced the train would terminate at Chesterfield for its return working
He suggested passengers for Sheffield to alight at Derby and catch the following 1F50 - 810015 to save crossing via the subway.
That train was a few mins down but lost time arriving at Derby and was 8 late away.

The Signalman controlling the Sheffield area, York ROC?, gave the unit further delay by stopping it at Dore and Totley to let the TPE off the branch first instead of 1F50 having a good run.
8 Late at Dronfield and would have made Sheffield 6 late at 17.10 but was 10 late with people off two MML services missing connections.

The units.
No Reservations showing on either set.
The Train information told you where the train would stop and the PTT info but that did not take in to account of the late running.
Seats and fitting seem to be the same design as the Azuma and TPE 802 apart from the lack of Blinds on the windows.

Almost as if they 810's had been designed to a lower spec.

After the farce coupling two 222s at Sheffield in the morning I was less than impressed with my journey to & from Loughborough

Seat reservations have been suspended on East Midlands Railway services on the London services (from 1st April) Ergo none will show

 

[Amos390]

Seat reservations have been suspended on East Midlands Railway services on the London services (from 1st April) Ergo none will show

Is this up until all/majority of the 810s are in service, or will we have a Norwich/Liverpool route scenario, where reservations were suspended yet never returned.

 

[liamf656]

Is this up until all/majority of the 810s are in service, or will we have a Norwich/Liverpool route scenario, where reservations were suspended yet never returned.

As far as I know the plan is for reservations to return at some point in 2027

 

[Amos390]

As far as I know the plan is for reservations to return at some point in 2027

Ah OK, thanks

 

[Trainman40083]

Is this up until all/majority of the 810s are in service, or will we have a Norwich/Liverpool route scenario, where reservations were suspended yet never returned.

Now, I have a distant memory, of EMR saying they were suspending seat reservations on NR to Liverpool, so they could save the planet. Get rid of printers and all those reservation cards that had to be manually inserted in seat backs .

 

[Amos390]

Now, I have a distant memory, of EMR saying they were suspending seat reservations on NR to Liverpool, so they could save the planet. Get rid of printers and all those reservation cards that had to be manually inserted in seat backs .

I thought it was down to Covid m, but could be either really, a topic for another thread.

 

[Mugby]

Can we just clarify; is it just 810s on which seat reservations are suspended or does it apply to 222s also?
Surely if a 222 has to substitute for an 810, no reservations will be shown?

I can't see any mention of this on EMR's web page.

 

[liamf656]

Can we just clarify; is it just 810s on which seat reservations are suspended or does it apply to 222s also?
Surely if a 222 has to substitute for an 810, no reservations will be shown?

I can't see any mention of this on EMR's web page.

All reservations on all intercity services are suspended and not being sold at the moment

 

[Andy Pacer]

All reservations on all intercity services are suspended and not being sold at the moment

Excellent. Should speed up station dwells.

 

[Trainman40083]

Excellent. Should speed up station dwells.

Well you say that, but it might see more faffing about. Passengers walking through the train with luggage etc. Some thinking they have a reserved seat, when they haven't.

 

[PG]

Excellent. Should speed up station dwells.

Well you say that, but it might see more faffing about. Passengers walking through the train with luggage etc. Some thinking they have a reserved seat, when they haven't.

Difference is the train can be on the move earlier instead of passengers running (or not) along the platform searching for a particular coach before boarding.

 

[STINT47]

Considering the levels of overcrowding on EMR getting rid of seat reservations I'd far from ideal and puts people off travelling.

 

[Nym]

Considering the levels of overcrowding on EMR getting rid of seat reservations I'd far from ideal and puts people off travelling.

Should help with the overcrowding then…

 

[Dood75]

RTT currently showing 810018 allocated on 1C11 for its debut?

 

[tram21]

The issue is though that in the same way that CrossCountry do, EMR Intercity have one of the biggest regional monopolies and therefore people simply have no alternative if they want to get to London. This has been shown countless times and despite everything, people still travel with them.

 

[DDB]

The issue is though that in the same way that CrossCountry do, EMR Intercity have one of the biggest regional monopolies and therefore people simply have no alternative if they want to get to London. This has been shown countless times and despite everything, people still travel with them.

That is a questionable assertion given that it sits between the west coast and east coast main lines and people can and do go via Grantham or Tamworth from Nottingham and Derby respectively.
Also the headline making overcrowding is when one of those two routes are shut and people chose the MML over replacement buses.

 

[Failed Unit]

The issue is though that in the same way that CrossCountry do, EMR Intercity have one of the biggest regional monopolies and therefore people simply have no alternative if they want to get to London. This has been shown countless times and despite everything, people still travel with them.

Depends on what route, Nottingham (via Grantham), Sheffield (via Doncaster) are both time competative alternatives. Leicester (via Nuneaton) and Derby (via Tamworth) probably not as much but in terms of London bound monopoly that majority of the route has competition.

 

[Amos390]

Does anyone have any info on how close the 810s are to 10-car operations being cleared, and when they do will that result in 3AXX services starting 10-car operations first then eventually it gets to PAX services or is it going to jump straight into PAX services?

 

[Andy Pacer]

The issue is though that in the same way that CrossCountry do, EMR Intercity have one of the biggest regional monopolies and therefore people simply have no alternative if they want to get to London. This has been shown countless times and despite everything, people still travel with them.

That is a questionable assertion given that it sits between the west coast and east coast main lines and people can and do go via Grantham or Tamworth from Nottingham and Derby respectively.
Also the headline making overcrowding is when one of those two routes are shut and people chose the MML over replacement buses.

I live very close to Leicester Station but find it more affordable to travel to Nuneaton or Rugby and use WCML to and from London as well as better capacity.
There seems to be a trend of people I know locally who do this, or alternatively drive to Newark for the ECML (particularly for northbound journeys).

 

[BuhSnarf]

Yeah, I agree. I live in South Leicester (but only 10 minutes drive from Leicester Station) and I will often go from Rugby as the price is much better and trains tend to be quieter.

Just looking at this morning, I can get a train with LNW for £15 from Rugby to Euston at 10am, yet the cheapest EMR from Leicester to St Pancras all day is £58 and probably be on a packed 5 car unit.

 

[720144]

RTT currently showing 810018 allocated on 1C11 for its debut?

That’s officially 9/33 in passenger traffic. Hope to have 019 delivered & into service in a Fortnite.

 

[STINT47]

When the new trains are fully introduced will any more services run as 10 cars or will they continue either the existing five. How will the decided what to strengthen assuming that they can?

 

[InTheEastMids]

When the new trains are fully introduced will any more services run as 10 cars or will they continue either the existing five. How will the decided what to strengthen assuming that they can?

The 10-car services are focused on peak-time morning (0730-1100) arrivals and evening departures (1600-1930) from St Pancras
Although I think it used to be 5, currently it looks like 4 trains each way (out of 14 in these periods) are planned to be 10-car.

Increasing the fleet from 27 to 33 train sets should get EMR from about 23 to about 28 diagrams, and assuming all of these are used to boost peak capacity to/from St Pancras, then you'd expect the number of 10-car services to rise to 8-9 each way.

Obviously a top-up order is needed to make all peak time services 10-car.

 

[duffield]

I'd assume that on top of matching the current 10 coach diagrams the 810s would also double up on the former 7 coach diagrams?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Apr 2026 ==

Incidentally, I saw 81013 at Leicester yesterday at 1606 (1F50 1502 St Pancras International to Sheffield) and coach A was locked out, leading to overcrowding. Anyone know what fault caused this and if it's something entirely new?

 

[Trainbike46]

I'd assume that on top of matching the current 10 coach diagrams the 810s would also double up on the former 7 coach diagrams?

It's been counted out on this thread that approximately half the diagrams will be 10-car, and these will presumably be used on the busiest diagrams, which may of course change over time.

 

[STINT47]

It's been counted out on this thread that approximately half the diagrams will be 10-car, and these will presumably be used on the busiest diagrams, which may of course change over time.

If it only covers half then it might be worth ordering a few more trains as I suspect the extra capacity will soon be used up

 

[BorderCollie]

Increasing the fleet from 27 to 33 train sets should get EMR from about 23 to about 28 diagrams, and assuming all of these are used to boost peak capacity to/from St Pancras, then you'd expect the number of 10-car services to rise to 8-9 each way.

Remember we're talking about Hitachi. The increase in units from 27 to 33 trainsets probably means there will be 23 diagrams...

 

[Trainbike46]

If it only covers half then it might be worth ordering a few more trains as I suspect the extra capacity will soon be used up

More would obviously be nice, but it is important to remember the order is for more trains that each have more seats, with the new trains having a similar second class capacity to the 7-car 222s. The fact that all trains will be the same will potentially allow slightly simpler or more efficient diagrams as well.

 

[LowLevel]

It appears RMT traincrew are now in dispute over various issues related to the 810s with a ballot for industrial action being prepared but not yet live. Hopefully a way forward will be found to avert any action.