Easy-to-miss MML cancellations on Tue 7 July?

TheManOnThe172 · 7 Jul 2026

EMR have cancelled 27 MML trains today (Tue 7 July) - but you might easily miss this.

At the time of writing (0745 on the day), both the 1400 and 1600 Sheffield-London are showing as running on RTT. But as Cancelled on National Rail. I appreciate that they use different feeds, but how useful is RTT or any other service that uses a feed showing cancelled trains for the same day as still running?

And EMR aren't exactly shouting about the cancellations. On their front page, the banner in orange is about severe weather. If you presume this is the most important thing they need to tell you and click through, this takes you to a page that advises you on hydration etc before offering (at the very bottom of the page) a heading marked "Tuesday 7th July - Check before you travel" - and it is only when you click on this that you are let into the secret of the cancelled services - attributed to stock shortage and not hot weather. (If you ignore the orange banner on the front page and press "Check Service updates", you do find the information more quickly - but many will expect the screaming banner to lead you quickly to the most important info).

How many levels of searching, and how many different sources do passengers need to use in order to be reasonably sure that they know whether their train will run or not?

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InTheEastMids · 7 Jul 2026

I may have miscounted but at the time of writing it looks like 10 services in the Sheffield route and 17 on the Nottingham route are already cancelled. Current highlight is a 3h gap in STP-Nottingham services after the 0605

Can expect further cancellations to pop up during the day, as neither 222 nor 810 fleets are currently up to the job they were designed for.

LowLevel · 7 Jul 2026

It's been like it most days for a while, unfortunately.

TheManOnThe172 · 7 Jul 2026

It would be good practice for EMR to advertise the likelihood of cancellations for future days. Even if they haven't yet decided which mainline trains they would be cancelling, a "heads-up" on their website that there will be a fair number of cancellations would at least tip people off that they need to keep checking. As it is, the casual visitor to their website would have no idea that there might be anything (apart from hot weather) amiss tomorrow.

InTheEastMids · 7 Jul 2026

Neil O'Brien MP is on the case, as demonstrated by this latest Facebook video.

To be fair to him, his analysis is basically correct. Not enough train sets, and a mix of neglected old trains and unreliable news ones, and a lack of interest at DfT.

38K views · 349 reactions | Those of us who have travelled on EMR services in recent weeks will have noticed just how poor the service has become. I have now written to the Secretary of State calling for compensation for passengers and asking what l

Those of us who have travelled on EMR services in recent weeks will have noticed just how poor the service has become. I have now written to the Secretary of State calling for compensation for...

www.facebook.com

Those of us who have travelled on EMR services in recent weeks will have noticed just how poor the service has become.
I have now written to the Secretary of State calling for compensation for passengers and asking what lessons have been learned to ensure this does not happen again

EMR are benefiting from being a small operation that doesn't serve such high profile cities as I think that if/when Avanti's performance is this bad, it's all over the TV.

dosxuk · 7 Jul 2026

TheManOnThe172 said:
It would be good practice for EMR to advertise the likelihood of cancellations for future days.

The likelyhood is "practically-certain". The only thing that varies is the number.

Dave61 · 7 Jul 2026

Looks like some of the cancellations are due to a person hit by a train;

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C88359/2026-07-07/detailed

Don't know where it happened but looks like a number of diagrams were very late getting out of Etches Park.

1D54 · 7 Jul 2026

According to local (BBC East Midlands Today) news a person was hit by a train between Clay Cross and Chesterfield at 05:30 and is in a life threatening condition.

Spartacus · 7 Jul 2026

Dave61 said:
Looks like some of the cancellations are due to a person hit by a train;

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C88359/2026-07-07/detailed

View attachment 207326

Don't know where it happened but looks like a number of diagrams were very late getting out of Etches Park.

That didn't happen until nearly 0600, most of the cancellations were planned before that. Intercity availability has reach epically bad proportions, and it seems now EMR are trying to go down the quiet P coding route where they think they can. It wasn't popular when TPE tried it and it go them, into bother, I can't see it being much different for EMR, even if the MML is often overlooked politically.

londonmidland · 7 Jul 2026

East Midlands Railway are advising for 'Essential Travel Only' for Wednesday 08th to Friday 10th, due to the hot weather and more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

The Met Office are advising that temperatures this week are expected to be above average for the time of year with highs of 33C anticipated in London and various areas of southern England and the East Midlands. The existing yellow heat-health alert for the East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East and South West will be escalated to amber and will be in place from 9am on Wednesday 8 July until 9pm on Sunday 12 July.

East Midlands Railway are advising customers to only travel on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday if your journey is essential.

Trainfan2019 · 7 Jul 2026

Regarding the EMR cancellations on the London route tomorrow, Wednesday 8th July, apart from severe ice, snow, gales etc, what severe weather is there to affect the following early morning trains:

04:47 Derby to St Pancras
06:09 Lincoln to St Pancras

I would have thought very early morning trains and late night trains would have more chance of running than say 2pm to 4pm when the temperature can be much higher?

liamf656 · 7 Jul 2026

Trainfan2019 said:
I would have thought very early morning trains and late night trains would have more chance of running than say 2pm to 4pm when the temperature can be much higher?

Not if there aren't enough units fit for service from the beginning of day

londonmidland · 7 Jul 2026

Trainfan2019 said:
06:09 Lincoln to St Pancras

From the attached link above:

0609 Lincoln to London St Pancras will start from Nottingham instead of Lincoln

Nicholas Lewis · 7 Jul 2026

londonmidland said:
East Midlands Railway are advising for 'Essential Travel Only' for Wednesday 08th to Friday 10th, due to the hot weather and more trains than usual needing repairs at the same time.

Other operators arent calling for Essential Travel Only tomorrow. AWC have a few cancelled off or altered a few already but citing shortage of train crew. So it would appear lack of serviceable stock is the real cause.

Failed Unit · 7 Jul 2026

londonmidland said:
From the attached link above:

I assume as 5 cars, doesn’t that service normally pick up a set at Nottingham,

londonmidland · 7 Jul 2026

Nicholas Lewis said:
Other operators arent calling for Essential Travel Only tomorrow. AWC have a few cancelled off or altered a few already but citing shortage of train crew. So it would appear lack of serviceable stock is the real cause.

Yep. The situation is incredibly dire between the 222s and 810s.

The heat only exacerbates the issues further so you’d end up with failed trains all over the place. Should the aircon fail, the situation on board becomes very uncomfortable, fast.

The Class 158s and 170s also seem to drop like flies once the temperature reaches around 30 degrees.

TUC · 8 Jul 2026

TheManOnThe172 said:
And EMR aren't exactly shouting about the cancellations. On their front page, the banner in orange is about severe weather. If you presume this is the most important thing they need to tell you and click through, this takes you to a page that advises you on hydration etc before offering (at the very bottom of the page) a heading marked "Tuesday 7th July - Check before you travel" - and it is only when you click on this that you are let into the secret of the cancelled services - attributed to stock shortage and not hot weather. (If you ignore the orange banner on the front page and press "Check Service updates", you do find the information more quickly - but many will expect the screaming banner to lead you quickly to the most important info).

How many levels of searching, and how many different sources do passengers need to use in order to be reasonably sure that they know whether their train will run or not?

There does seem to be an issue in the design of several TOC websites where a front page notice about specific disruptions that day will only take you to a general Disruptions webpage, from which you then have to select your route and then have to select the specific day. Surely it should be obvious that current disruption for today should be given easy to access prominence?

Spartacus · 8 Jul 2026

Dave61 said:
Looks like some of the cancellations are due to a person hit by a train;

https://www.realtimetrains.co.uk/service/gb-nr:C88359/2026-07-07/detailed

View attachment 207326

Don't know where it happened but looks like a number of diagrams were very late getting out of Etches Park.

That didn't happen until nearly 0600, most of the cancellations were planned before that. Intercity availability has reach epically bad proportions, and it seems now EMR are trying to go down the quiet P coding route where they think they can. It wasn't popular when TPE tried it and it go them, into bother, I can't see it being much different for EMR, even if the MML is often overlooked political

1D54 · 8 Jul 2026

Already a couple of early morning services have been cancelled today with the reason being given on Railchecker site as 'severe weather being forecasted'!! Surely if this is the case then no trains whatsoever will be able to run on the MML? People are being taken for fools, especially as one of them (06:06 KET-NOT) rarely seems to operate anyway no matter what the weather is like.

Andy Pacer · 8 Jul 2026

Travel only if essential: High temperatures trigger timetable changes on EMR network | East Midlands Railway News https://share.google/DFnW0OX99NjCRlkJ3

Customers urged to only make essential journeys this week.

If travel is essential, customers are encouraged to travel before 12:00 noon, to avoid the highest temperatures.

Customers should expect disruption across the network.

Customers advised to check before setting off.

To help maintain fleet availability across the network, regional services between Nottingham and Worksop and Nottingham and Leicester will be suspended from 12:00 noon.

EMR is working closely with Network Rail to monitor conditions and keep services running safely.

Saw this one last night, saying Nottingham - Worksop and Nottingham - Leicester routes are suspended from 12 noon, which is the case according to RTT.

TheManOnThe172 · 8 Jul 2026

Yesterday's cancellations changed during the day. At 0730, EMR said they were cancelling 1400 and 1600 from Sheffield. By lunchtime this had (quietly) changed to 1400 and 1700.

Today (Wed) their summary of the London/Sheffield service is "Good Service with Minor Changes" - which then (if you persevere) details TEN cancellations. Is "Minor Changes" really an honest description?

And if you access their site on a mobile, you can very easily end up in an infinite loop without finding any disruption information.

The "Important Information" page (which you see if you follow through from the orange banner) offers a link to "View All Service Updates", which gives a page headed "Service Disruptions", which offers "See Latest Travel Updates". Click on that link and (on my Pixel 9a at least) you simply get a refresh of the same page. (Choosing the "three-lines"/hamburger menu icon and then "Service Updates" does get you the proper listing.)

With most organisations, I would use their "Contact Us" option to alert them to an error like this. But I have now given up wasting time on contacting EMR. I have complaints to EMR from 42 and 81 days ago which have had no substantive response. And chase-ups five days ago have produced not even an acknowledgment.

InTheEastMids · 8 Jul 2026

Spartacus said:
That didn't happen until nearly 0600, most of the cancellations were planned before that. Intercity availability has reach epically bad proportions, and it seems now EMR are trying to go down the quiet P coding route where they think they can. It wasn't popular when TPE tried it and it go them, into bother, I can't see it being much different for EMR, even if the MML is often overlooked political

Is this why cancelled trains are mostly just missing from RTT, rather than being shown but cancelled?
i.e. At St Pancras this morning, the 0803 was showing cancelled, but a number of other departures are simply missing from RTT (e.g. 0932, 1202). On the one hand it's sensible not to advertise services you're pretty sure will not run, but it also feels like we've taken a step along the path that could see these services (semi)-permanently removed.

It looks from Rail Record website that there are 12 Cl222 and 5 Cl810 out and about today - at least 2 units short of the minimum required to deliver the timetable, and about 6 short of what they would need to double-up the trains that were 10-car before things really started heading downhill.

TheManOnThe172 said:
The "Important Information" page (which you see if you follow through from the orange banner) offers a link to "View All Service Updates",

My theory is the websites etc., were not really designed with the extent of this disruption in mind. e.g. EMR IC have 19 cancellations already today, plus the more general severe weather warning.

Mattplans · 8 Jul 2026

These essntial travel warning only warnings really aren't going to be effective anymore if operators keep putting them out every other week

Andy Pacer · 8 Jul 2026

InTheEastMids said:
Is this why cancelled trains are mostly just missing from RTT, rather than being shown but cancelled?
i.e. At St Pancras this morning, the 0803 was showing cancelled, but a number of other departures are simply missing from RTT (e.g. 0932, 1202). On the one hand it's sensible not to advertise services you're pretty sure will not run, but it also feels like we've taken a step along the path that could see these services (semi)-permanently removed.

It looks from Rail Record website that there are 12 Cl222 and 5 Cl810 out and about today - at least 2 units short of the minimum required to deliver the timetable, and about 6 short of what they would need to double-up the trains that were 10-car before things really started heading downhill.

My theory is the websites etc., were not really designed with the extent of this disruption in mind. e.g. EMR IC have 19 cancellations already today, plus the more general severe weather warning.

0932 showing as cancelled on RTT (you need to add the CAN filter to show the "pre-planned" cancellations)

Trainman40083 · 8 Jul 2026

londonmidland said:
Yep. The situation is incredibly dire between the 222s and 810s.

The heat only exacerbates the issues further so you’d end up with failed trains all over the place. Should the aircon fail, the situation on board becomes very uncomfortable, fast.

The Class 158s and 170s also seem to drop like flies once the temperature reaches around 30 degrees.

I used to commute to Crewe. On a hot day, I would pray a 158 didn't turn up. Most of the time the Aircon was broken, with just two little openers per coach. A 153/156 was a dream. I doubt a 170 would have been running the Aircon had failed.

Taunton · 8 Jul 2026

londonmidland said:
Yep. The situation is incredibly dire between the 222s and 810s.

The heat only exacerbates the issues further so you’d end up with failed trains all over the place. Should the aircon fail, the situation on board becomes very uncomfortable, fast.

The Class 158s and 170s also seem to drop like flies once the temperature reaches around 30 degrees.

Our office air con failed once in 20 years. When I used to use the Los Angeles Metro I never knew it not to work. How is it that UK train air con is so consistently unreliable?

Watershed · 8 Jul 2026

Mattplans said:
These essntial travel warning only warnings really aren't going to be effective anymore if operators keep putting them out every other week

The idea that the railway can just hang up the equivalent of a "sorry, closed" sign on the shop window is just laughable. For what's supposedly a piece of critical national infrastructure it's just not good enough and certainly shouldn't be the first thing TOCs reach for when things get tricky.

Spartacus · 9 Jul 2026

Taunton said:
Our office air con failed once in 20 years. When I used to use the Los Angeles Metro I never knew it not to work. How is it that UK train air con is so consistently unreliable?

That they have to be small to fit into the tight loading gauge is a big thing, then there's the fact that much air-con in the UK isn't really specced for the temperatures we're now regularly getting.

The 158s have always have the additional problem that the air-con was designed to work with CFCs, which began to be clamped down on as they were entering service, and banned a few years later. I think most have had new units fitted, but I understand EMR has the biggest proportion of ones with older models.

LowLevel · 9 Jul 2026

Spartacus said:
That they have to be small to fit into the tight loading gauge is a big thing, then there's the fact that much air-con in the UK isn't really specced for the temperatures we're now regularly getting.

The 158s have always have the additional problem that the air-con was designed to work with CFCs, which began to be clamped down on as they were entering service, and banned a few years later. I think most have had new units fitted, but I understand EMR has the biggest proportion of ones with older models.

The whole EMT fleet was standardised on the updated Liebherr air con. Central Trains had already started it and Stagecoach had already done it at South West Trains and completed it at EMT in the standardisation overhaul over 15 years ago. They do however have a mix of different controllers but that doesn't make much different to how well the air con operates.

The only TOC running 158s that haven't had the updated air con now is TfW. GWR had one solitary 158 with the old system but as it happens it was the one withdrawn following the Salisbury crash.

The EMR 158 fleet saloon air con is pretty good. What they don't have is any cab air con bar a blower fed from the No1 end saloon unit that varies in it's efficiency.

talldave · 9 Jul 2026

Watershed said:
The idea that the railway can just hang up the equivalent of a "sorry, closed" sign on the shop window is just laughable. For what's supposedly a piece of critical national infrastructure it's just not good enough and certainly shouldn't be the first thing TOCs reach for when things get tricky.

Don't worry, the millions were going to spend putting union jacks on the trains is going to make everything ok

Easy-to-miss MML cancellations on Tue 7 July?

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