The changes are in line with national lockdown restrictions and Government guidance urging everyone who can to ‘stay at home’. In addition and like the rest of the country, EMR is seeing an increase in staff unavailability due to coronavirus and is taking proactive steps to reduce unplanned or short notice service cancellations.
From Monday January 18, EMR’s Intercity services will operate with a reduced capacity, as shorter trains with fewer carriages will run many services. There are also some very minor changes to the timetable.
From Monday January 25, however, a new timetable will be introduced on EMR Regional services with some off-peak and less popular services temporarily removed from the timetable.
These changes are expected to only be in place alongside the current Government guidance on staying at home. When these restrictions relaxed, EMR expects to be able to quickly reintroduce the removed services.
Passengers can find all the changes to services by visiting EMR’s website.
As well as keeping a safe distance from other passengers and EMR staff, passengers are reminded they must wear a face covering at all times when on the train and inside stations and should also avoid travelling at the busiest times of the day if possible.
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Passengers should also aim to keep a safe and sensible distance from staff and other customers and absolutely not travel if they have any coronavirus symptoms or are generally feeling unwell.
As part of the industry’s safer travel pledge, EMR has put in many measures so that passengers can travel with confidence, including employing the most cleaners in its history, sourcing powerful disinfectant products, and purchasing new specialist cleaning equipment.
Will Rogers, Managing Director of East Midlands Railway, said: “Working with our partners across the railway industry, we have taken the logical step to temporarily reduce our capacity and timetable.
“During these unprecedented times, everyone who can do so is urged to stay at home. For those who need to continue to travel we will continue to protect those services which we know are relied upon.
“We all have a role to play and I would urge those who are still travelling to follow the rules in place to keep us all safe. Please wear a face covering, keep a distance and limit your journeys as much as possible.”
Full details and timetables are available on our website: www.eastmidlandsrailway.co.uk
