BANK holiday train services will be disrupted this weekend as East Midlands Railway (EMR) staff go on strike in a dispute over safety.

The walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) will affect services on Sunday and bank holiday Monday.

RMT has raised concerns about safety issues and faults on some trains. Union members have been instructed to refuse to work on Class 810 trains if a list of faults it has drawn up, including lack of air conditioning, door faults and non-working toilets, is not addressed.

RMT general secretary Eddie Dempsey said that it would ensure representatives will be permanently involved in discussions with both EMR and manufacturer Hitachi to try to improve the situation.

He said: “RMT is demanding that whilst these faults exist and until these trains are shown to be operating properly, they should be taken out of service.

“It is now time for EMR management to act on the safety concerns of our members.”

EMR said that it would run a “significantly reduced” timetable to and from London on both days and that it continues to have “constructive discussions” with RMT.

There will also be no LNER trains between London King’s Cross and Peterborough this Sunday as part of digital signalling upgrades being carried out by Network Rail.

As a result, EMR services to and from London St Pancras are expected to be extremely busy, with increased demand coinciding with a reduced service because of the strike action.

Sheffield station and Nottingham station will also be very busy and queues to board services will be in place.