All three of Britain's north-south intercity rail mainlines face severe July disruption

All three of Great Britain's north-south intercity mainlines face severe simultaneous disruption in July 2026. East Midlands Railway is cancelling about 20 fast trains daily on the Midland route over Hitachi fleet failures. Aslef has called strike ballots at LNER — where the DfT blocked an agreed pay deal — and Avanti West Coast, putting drivers on both routes potentially on strike by late August.