| Franchise(s): | Cross Country 11 November 2007 – 1 April 2016 |
|---|---|
| Main route(s): |
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| Fleet size: |
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| Stations called at: | 100 |
| Stations operated: | 0 |
| Passenger km 2007/8: | 1136.6 million |
| Route km operated: | 2661.9 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | XC |
| Parent company: | Arriva, part of Deutsche Bahn |
| Web site: | www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/ |
CrossCountry (sometimes known as CrossCountry Trains) is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva. The company operates a network of express and long-distance train services between a variety of towns and cities outside London which includes Britain's longest direct railway journey, the 08:20 from Aberdeen to Penzance which takes 13 hours and 23 minutes to complete. [1]
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The CrossCountry franchise was formed through the amalgamation of most of the former Cross Country franchise held by Virgin Trains with some of the longer-distance routes operated by Midlands-based Central Trains. On 10 July 2007, the Department for Transport announced that Arriva plc had won the rights to the franchise,[2] with the company taking control on 11 November 2007.
The company operates a number of key inter-city routes outside London including the Cross Country Route from the North East to the South West, as well as a range of shorter-distance regional express services.
Unlike most other franchise operators in Great Britain, CrossCountry does not manage any stations, even though there are certain stations served by no operator other than CrossCountry.
The hourly service operates on each basic route:
| No | Route | Rolling stock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth to Edinburgh Waverley (via Leeds & Newcastle) | (Super) Voyagers & HSTs | |
| 2 | Reading to Newcastle (via Doncaster or Leeds) | (Super) Voyagers | |
| 3 | Bristol Temple Meads to Manchester Piccadilly | (Super) Voyagers | |
| 4 | Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly (via Coventry) | (Super) Voyagers | |
| 5 | Cardiff Central to Nottingham (via Birmingham New Street) | Turbostars | |
| 6 | Birmingham New Street to Leicester and Stansted Airport | Turbostars | |
There are extensions to the basic service pattern:
On summer Saturdays and Sundays, there are trains to Newquay from various parts of the network.
Typically, during weekday daytimes, each of these six routes sees one CrossCountry train per hour, with the exception of Birmingham–Leicester and Birmingham–Nottingham (which each see two). These services combine to provide higher frequencies on the following sections:
Service on Sundays is slightly different from the normal core routes. The routes on Sundays are:
All of the services operated via the West Coast Main Line by the previous Cross Country franchisee, Virgin Trains, passed to other operators: trains between Manchester and Scotland transferred to First Transpennine Express, while trains between Birmingham and Glasgow became part of an enlarged West Coast franchise operated by Virgin Trains.
The tender for the franchise did not include retaining services south east of Guildford to Brighton and Gatwick Airport and all such services ceased on 13 December 2008. Passengers for Gatwick Airport now have to use connecting services from Reading.[3]
Plans were included by CrossCountry to reopen the railway station at Kenilworth. In April 2008, it agreed with Warwickshire county council to draw up a business case.[4]
There are proposals for a station at Worcester (Norton) Parkway, near the city of Worcester, currently bypassed by CrossCountry's trains. If this station is built, then it may be served by CrossCountry services.
There are talks taking place that may see CrossCountry services go through from Edinburgh to Glasgow via Carstairs, replacing the services currently provided by East Coast Trains.[5]
From December 2010, some trains were extended from Reading to Southampton Central on the route to and from Newcastle.[6]
In 2012, CrossCountry will temporarily extend some of its Bournemouth services to Weymouth to transport passengers from Birmingham, Manchester and the North to Weymouth for the Sailing events at the 2012 Olympics. CrossCountry trains continuing beyond Bournemouth will call at Poole, Wareham and Weymouth only.[7]
CrossCountry does not manage any stations. Following stations are served only by CrossCountry but are managed by London Midland, East Midlands Trains or National Express East Anglia:
| East Midlands Trains | London Midland | National Express |
|---|---|---|
| Burton-on-Trent | Water Orton | Manea |
| Willington | Coleshill Parkway | |
| Hinckley | Wilnecote | |
| Narborough | ||
| South Wigston |
Latest performance figures released by the ORR show a slight fall in punctuality this quarter (fourth quarter of 2010/2011) with a PPM of 88.7%[8] and a Monthly Annual Average (MAA) up to 31 March 2011 of 88.2%.
Under the control of the previous franchisee, Virgin Trains, Cross Country services were increased in frequency, but using shorter trains. Intended to provide a more attractive service without reducing overall capacity, this strategy left the company struggling to accommodate peak loads on popular services or the ongoing growth in passenger numbers.[9] It also led to the withdrawal of services from previously-served destinations such as Poole[10] as the company concentrated its rolling stock on its core network.
The now defunct Strategic Rail Authority refused to underwrite the cost for Virgin Trains to order additional rolling stock. CrossCountry has since added five refurbished HST sets to its fleet. The removal of on-board shops to create additional luggage space has attracted criticism from passengers and MPs in the Westcountry. The removal of bays of seating around tables and the addition of more seats with reduced legroom has been criticised, after Arriva promised to increase the seating capacity of their trains, which was believed to refer to lengthening of the trains themselves.[11][12]
CrossCountry was also criticised for introducing the first £1,000 fare in Britain in November 2009, for a first-class return between Newquay and Kyle of Lochalsh.[13] A little over a year earlier, the same fare had cost under £500.[13] Commentators noted that CrossCountry was charging over £100 for the trip between Par and Newquay, even though the trains operating it have no first-class compartments, and First Great Western, which operates the service, charges as little as £3.90 for a day's unlimited travel on the line.
Virgin CrossCountry previously operated the Class 220 and Class 221 DEMUs. Twenty-one Class 221 units have been transferred to the Virgin West Coast franchise to operate the North Wales route and the West Midlands to Scotland services. CrossCountry also use Class 170 Turbostars inherited from Central Trains. Class 220s and 221s underwent refurbishment at Bombardier, Derby. This included removing the shop and adding extra luggage space. The refurbishment was completed in August 2009.
The first CrossCountry-liveried HST powercar was released from its overhaul at Brush Traction, Loughborough on 16 July 2008. To identify its fleet, CrossCountry is renumbering all of its HST units by adding an extra 200 to the old number, the newly repainted HST being 43301 (originally 43101). 43301 had to be completely rebuilt by Brush Traction, as it has been out of service for more than 5 years. As a standard, CrossCountry is installing MTU Friedrichshafen engines to replace the old Paxman Valenta ones, and is repainting the units into the two-tone CrossCountry livery of grey/silver and chocolate brown. At present 5 x Mark 3 TSO's (1 out of each HST set) are currently stored and 1 set (XC01) went on loan to East Coast for 2 Months between January and March 2010. From the December 2009 timetable change the number of weekday HST diagrams was reduced, from 4 to 2 (3 on Mondays/Fridays). All HST's are currently 2+7.
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | |||||
| Class 43 High Speed Train | Diesel locomotive | 125 | 200 | 10 | 1976–1982 | |
| Mark 3 Coach | Passenger coach | 125 | 200 | 40 | 1975–1988 | |
| Class 170 Turbostar | Diesel multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 29 | 1999–2002 | |
| Class 220 Voyager | Diesel-electric multiple unit | 125 | 200 | 34 | 2001 | |
| Class 221 Super Voyager | Diesel-electric multiple unit | 125 | 200 | 23 | 2001 | |
| Preceded by Central Trains Central franchise |
Operator of Cross Country franchise 2007 - present |
Incumbent |
| Preceded by Virgin Trains Cross Country franchise |
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