East Midlands Railway (EMR) has cut services on its intercity route between Sheffield, Nottingham and London at short notice, prompting sharp criticism from South Yorkshire mayor Oliver Coppard, who described passengers as facing a "summer of chaos". Coppard said he was only told of the reduced timetable on Friday afternoon, with no clear end date, and criticised EMR for poor communication as the cuts coincided with large numbers of people travelling to Sheffield for the Tramlines music festival.

EMR blamed reliability and maintenance problems affecting its new Hitachi-built Class 810 trains, which entered service in December 2025 after a three-year delay, alongside issues maintaining its existing Class 222 fleet. The operator said it had tried to spread reduced services evenly across its Sheffield, Nottingham and London routes and would keep the temporary timetable under review. Henri Murison of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership said the situation had "spiralled entirely out of control" and has, along with Coppard, raised the matter with the Department for Transport and rail minister Lord Henry, while Hitachi Rail said it was working with EMR as more new trains enter service.