Many of the EMR services reduced though aren't well used commuter services. Certainly not of the kind which are being talked about by ministers.
Bald Rick posted a comment on another thread, which I'm sure he won't mind me quoting:
" I see the national numbers every day. And it’s not pretty.
Of course some trains / lines are busy. But many are not, especially the ones that bring in the cash. No longer are there 16 Thameslink trains per morning peak hour on the MML depositing 1,000-1,800 people into Central London, mostly with season tickets at an average of £4K pa. There’s 12 dropping off about 300 people each. As they say in the US “do the math”. Similar for outer suburban commuting on the SWML, Brighton Line, GEML and many other commuter routes."
Judging by the last couple of weeks the passenger numbers are returning to near pre covid levels! Nowhere near! And revenue is, as always through the pandemic, somewhat further behind.
railforums.co.uk
Frankly EMR cancelling a few provincial services is a drop in the ocean - the problem is the commuting into London and a lesser extent the West Mids and North West is where the big drop is and it hasn't, as yet, recovered. And that's leaving a pretty big revenue gap.