East Midlands Railway is advising passengers travelling between Liverpool and Norwich that they will not be able to reserve seats from 25 April – 12 December 2020.

This is a new trial by the train operator and will be reviewed this summer, but it is being introduced as work continues to improve the current EMR Regional fleet.

Advance Purchase tickets will still be available, which will allow passengers to get the best specific train.

Passengers can also still reserve a wheelchair or bicycle space in the same way they do today.

East Midlands Railway currently operates three different types of train on its Regional fleet, and each one has a different seat layout.

Although this has been the case for several years, EMR is now also updating the livery on the outside of these trains as well as starting to introduce a fleet of Class 170s.

In the future, the entire EMR Regional fleet will be made up of Class 170 trains. This new fleet will also provide much improved onboard facilities for passengers.

What did the officials say?

Neil Grabham, Customer Services Director at East Midlands Railway, said:

“We are trialling the removal of seat reservations on our Regional route from Liverpool – Norwich while we transition to a new and improved fleet of trains which we believe will help us to provide a more reliable and consistent experience for our customers.

”Although the majority of customers who travel on this line do not book a seat we understand the ongoing temporary changes to our fleet means we are not keeping as many of these bookings as we would expect and we understand this is very frustrating for our customers.

“We will be reviewing the trial on 1 August, which will allow us to make any necessary changes before tickets go on sale for our new timetable in December 2020.

“Passengers who book assistance can continue to do so in exactly the same way they do today and we will also continue to take bicycle bookings as we do today too.”

Where Next?

RailAdvent Plus
   Get image downloads, Prints and Streaming Video
News Homepage
   For the Latest Railway News
RailAdvent Online Shop
   Framed Prints, DVD’s / Blu-Ray’s and more
LocoStop Community
   Come and share your railway pictures
Mainline Steam Info
   Upcoming mainline steam tours/loco movements
East Midlands Railway
   Visit their website