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

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