I'm sure those travelling from stations south of Leicester don't consider their needs irrelevant.
And sometimes because the timetable has become more focused on London and commuters to the city rather than the Home Counties, Midlands or Yorkshire. Journeys to London have largely improved. If you're not travelling to London or Corby the service is generally worse.
I agree with everything you have said
@MML
When travelling to the East Midlands or South Yorkshire one of my regular trains that I did catch was 1645 from Nottingham to Luton.
Quite a number of passengers always alighted from this service at Luton (considering its previous stop was Market Harborough).
Luton was an easy place to park the car. I drove from London to Luton as its quicker and more convenient than travelling to St. Pancras as it takes over one hour for me to get to St. Pancras then the journey time to Luton. By driving it saved well over 40 minutes each way in the comfort of my own car.
As MML said hardly anybody is going to bother to use the train from Luton to Derby and Sheffield with three changes and the high fares with the greater inconvenience. With covid and poorer journey options thats why the company has invested in a brand new fleet of company cars. Far more comfort and convenience than the train. The railway has lost out big time.
EMR will surely notice that ticket sales will slump for journeys such as St Albans/Luton/Bedford to Leicester, Derby, Sheffield and further afield.
Time that HM Chancellor of the Exchequer starts to impose cuts railway funding. The railway is not maximising its income. Not many businesses can survive if they don't maximise income opportunities and look after customers.