Cancellation of Midland Main Line electrification alters EMR's new train plans

East Midlands Railway has not ruled out diesel options for a new fleet of trains, following last year’s cancellation of the Midland Main Line electrification project.

RAIL understands that EMR had initially planned to order nearly 80 three-car battery-electric multiple units (BEMUs), to replace its current fleet of Class 158s and Class 170 Turbostars.

Currently, both diesel multiple unit (DMU) fleets cover regional routes on the EMR network, with the ‘158s’ mainly operating along the Liverpool-Norwich corridor, while the Class 170s cover multiple routes including Crewe-Lincoln, Nottingham-Worksop and Cleethorpes-Barton-on-Humber.

Its newly introduced Class 810 Aurora bi-mode units will replace Class 222 DMUs on express services into London.

RAIL understands that EMR had initially planned to enter the procurement stage this year, with the aim of retiring its fleet of ‘158s’ in 2032.

It was intending to deploy the new units primarily on regional routes, as well as between Leicester and Nottingham.

A second deployment was expected to follow in 2033, allowing its fleet of nearly 50 Turbostars to be cascaded out of EMR and back to owner Porterbrook.

Despite those initial plans, EMR Managing Director Will Rogers confirmed to RAIL that procurement would not happen this year.

“It’s highly unlikely we will be going to market this year for any fleet replacements,” he said.

The fleet replacement plans were contingent on the delivery of Midland Main Line electrification (MMLe) between Leicester, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield.

But the remaining phases of MMLe from Wigston to Nottingham and Nottingham to Sheffield were paused by the Department for Transport and HM Treasury in July, as part of the wider Spending Review.

At the time, the DfT said that it would “continue to keep the potential for full electrification of the route under review as part of our plans to decarbonise our railways and as funding becomes available in future”.

In a Transport Select Committee hearing last July, Rail Minister Lord Hendy defended the decision to pause the remaining phases, arguing that the flexibility of the new Auroras reduced the strength of the business case for electrification.

“We’ve had to balance every decision against the needs of the passengers, and the reason why the MML further electrification went down the list was because the new trains that are going to be running on it are bi-mode and will provide better service and more capacity,” he told MPs.

“That’s not the perfect answer for people along the route who would like electrification north of Wigston, but we can’t do everything.”

That decision has now forced EMR to look at alternatives for its fleet replacement.

RAIL understands the plans were quite mature at the time of the MMLe cancellation, with the operator now changing its course and actively looking at diesel-battery alternatives.

The initial planning would see any fleet replacement run on regional routes, with a phased introduction across the network.

Rogers added: “We’ve been doing some work over the last 18 months on our future fleet plans. Conceptually, we felt that the BEMU was the obvious way forward because of the electrification of the Midland Main Line.

“Business case-wise, you could see how we could generate a business case for battery-electric multiple units.”

Rogers confirmed that new “embryonic” plans are now in place - ultimately pushing back any plans for procurement this year.

Nor has he ruled out diesel as a fleet replacement option.

When asked by RAIL, he said: “We’re looking at what is in the market currently, keeping close to both Northern and Great Western Railway as they are both going out to market for regional stock with quite open specifications.

“We need flexibility, though. So, for instance, it may start off as a diesel engine and then in the future become a battery electric-type train.”

Alongside the possibility of ordering DMUs, Rogers and EMR have not ruled out battery-only or hydrogen as possibilities, although he conceded that hydrogen technology “wasn’t as mature as battery currently”.

As well as changing possible plans for its fleet replacement, EMR is also looking at how it can group its services to optimise the use of its new Class 810s.

Currently, EMR has three business units, with inter-city services serving the major cities of Sheffield, Derby, Nottingham and Leicester, primarily with its five- and seven-car Class 222s during the phase introduction of the ‘810s’.  

Its other two business units - regional and connect - have DMUs and Class 360 electric multiple units serving regional routes and London-Corby respectively.

Rogers told RAIL: “We look at this partly as a fleet problem, and we try and solve it as such. But we also have to look at the markets and our role in them.

“If we look at HS2, for example, and the drastic differences it could make to journey times between Birmingham and Nottingham, it prompts us to look at this in a slightly bigger picture and not just as a fleet replacement. So, we are looking at how we carve out our network.”

This could ultimately mean that fleet allocations could change.

Unsurprisingly, the change in plans has not affected EMR’s planned refresh of the ‘158s’, Turbostars and Class 360s. It is currently completing a £60 million refurbishment programme of the fleet.

The first refurbished Class 170 was unveiled in April 2025, three months before the first revamped ‘158’ was shown off. The units are being refurbished by Arriva TrainCare in Crewe.

At the time, Rogers said that the units “were nearing the end of their lives, but the investment was the right thing to do”.