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Forest fans accuse East Midlands Railway of leaving supporters ‘out to dry’ over FA Cup semi-final travel

By Nathan Woollard

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A rail company has come under fire from some Nottingham Forest fans following warnings of long delays, packed trains and uncertainty on the day of the club’s scheduled FA Cup semi-final with Man City.

East Midlands Railway (EMR) has issued a warning to all passengers travelling between Nottingham and London on the day of the match (Sunday, April 27), urging them to expect “delays, queues and standing” throughout the day.

This expected disruption is the result of engineering work by National Rail and clashes with other events taking place in the capital that weekend.

Tens of thousands of Forest and City fans will be making their way to Wembley, and rail services will also be under pressure from thousands of London Marathon runners and supporters travelling to the capital.

Network Rail’s ongoing maintenance will shut key parts of the line at London St Pancras. EMR says this will reduce intercity services between Nottingham and London to just one train per hour.

Andy Willock, who was visiting the City Ground but is originally from Glasgow, said: “I think EMR have left the fans out to dry, they have no understanding whatsoever [of how it will affect them].

“Forest fans have been massively let down, the semi-final is huge, and missing parts of the match due to disruption would take the gloss away from it.”

He added: “The FA Cup still has an aura of being one of the greatest competitions in the world, but East Midlands Railway have ruined it.”

Raheel Ali is a lifelong Forest fan who won’t be able to attend the match due to issues with his disability and access requirements.

He told Notts TV: “With the wheelchair, getting tickets to games and accessibility is already harder.

“Fans have been let down. This is a huge moment for me as a Forest fan, this is my city and I am proud.

“If I [was going and] missed part of the game due to disruptions, it would still be worth it, any part of the match is worth it.”

“It is a huge day for us, we have not seen silverware in so many years.”

Other people have posted on social media to raise concerns about the train disruption.

@Camclarky said on X: “Can you not just put 3x as many carriages on the trains?”

Another X user added: “Nationalise the railway please, the quality is deteriorating in private hands and the prices are criminal.”

Commenting on the planned works, Philippa Creswell, Customer Experience Director at EMR, said: “Unfortunately, customers should expect delays, queues, and standing. Customers should know that if the semi-final was to go to extra-time the number of services back to Nottingham are very limited.

“We advise those not attending the match to travel after 2pm from Nottingham and before 7pm from London to avoid peak times.

“We would like to thank customers for their patience during these engineering works and would like to apologise for any inconvenience.”

EMR spokesperson James Coxon also told Notts TV: “Engineering works are planned and carried out by Network Rail, sometimes years before.

“We will run as many services as the network and our fleet allows.”

East Midlands Railway will operate the following services on April 27:

• 1 train per hour between London St Pancras International and Sheffield (via Beighton)
• 1 train per hour between London St Pancras International and Nottingham
• 1 train per hour between London St Pancras International and Corby
• 1 train per hour between Kettering and Corby (shuttle service)