CrossCountry

During June 2006, the Department for Transport (DfT) announced its intention to restructure a number of the existing railway franchises.[3] As a result of these changes, a 'New Cross Country' franchise was produced, which incorporated the existing InterCity Cross Country franchise run by Virgin CrossCountry, while excluding those services ran on the West Coast Main Line (while the Birmingham to Scotland services were transferred to Virgin Trains West Coast and the Manchester to Scotland services transferring to First TransPennine Express). Several services from the Central Trains franchise were also to be added.

In October 2006, the DfT issued the invitation to tender (ITT) to the four shortlisted bidders: Arriva, FirstGroup, National Express and Virgin Rail Group.[4] On 10 July 2007, the DfT announced that Arriva had been awarded the New Cross Country franchise, and that the services operated by Virgin CrossCountry would be transferred to CrossCountry on 11 November 2007, along with the Cardiff to Nottingham and Birmingham to Stansted Airport services from Central Trains.[5][6]

After taking over the franchise, CrossCountry continued to operate the existing timetable including the West Coast Main Line services for four weeks. When the new timetable commenced on 9 December 2007 on 11 November 2007, the Birmingham New Street to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central services were transferred to Virgin Trains West Coast while the Manchester Airport to Edinburgh and Glasgow services transferred to First TransPennine Express.[7]

The ITT did not require retention of the services beyond Guildford after December 2008, so the services to both Gatwick Airport and Brighton soon ceased.[8] As a result of these changes, all CrossCountry services now completely avoid Greater London.

Starting in December 2008, a daily Nottingham to Bournemouth service was introduced. From December 2010, a number of services from Newcastle were extended from Reading to Southampton.[9] From May 2011, a number of services were extended from Edinburgh to Glasgow to replace East Coast services.[10]

By mid-2020, CrossCountry had considerably curtailed its services in response to the significant decline of passenger travel amid the COVID-19 pandemic.[11][12] From 15 June 2020, both passengers and staff on public transport in England, including CrossCountry services, were required to wear face coverings while travelling, and that anyone failing to do so would be liable to be refused travel or fined.[13][14]

While the franchise had been originally due to conclude on 31 March 2016, during August 2013, it was announced that it had been extended until December 2019.[15] At one point, it had been expected that an ITT would be issued in October 2018 for the next franchise,[16] however, during September 2018, it was announced that the competition had been cancelled so that the recommendations from a report into the franchise system could be incorporated.[17] In July 2019, the Direct Award was further extended by one year, moving the expiry date back to October 2020.[18]

During September 2020, it was announced that the emergency agreements with train operating companies introduced due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom were to be extended for 18 months, and that all passenger rail franchising in Great Britain was abandoned.[19] In October 2020, the DfT confirmed that the franchise had been extended for three years, putting the finishing date back to 15 October 2023.[20][21] In September 2023, the DfT announced a franchise extension for a further four years, pushing the finishing date now to 15 October 2027 with a chance of extension of an additional four years. The franchise deal includes the refurbishment of the existing fleet, the potential introduction of extra rolling stock, the return of regular services linking Cambridge and Stansted Airport, and by December 2024 the reintroduction of daily services between Cardiff Central and Edinburgh Waverley.[22][23]

During November and December 2017, CrossCountry on-board train managers and senior conductors affiliated with the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) staged five 24-hour and two 48-hour strikes in an industrial dispute regarding staff rostering, in particular in relation to working on Sundays.[24][25][26][27] Further strikes had been planned for January 2018, but these were cancelled after CrossCountry and the RMT came to an agreement over staff working conditions on 11 January.[28]

Separate strike action was later threatened by the Transport Salaried Staffs' Association (TSSA) union later that month, with strikes planned for 26 January. These were in relation to CrossCountry staff being offered a 1% pay rise, compared to a 3.3% pay rise for staff at other Arriva-owned train operating companies. As a result of an agreement with CrossCountry to match their demands for an equal pay rise, the planned industrial action by the TSSA was cancelled.[29]

CrossCountry is one of several train operators affected by the 2022–2023 United Kingdom railway strikes, the first national rail strike in the UK for three decades.[30] Its workers were amongst those who voted in favour of industrial action due to a dispute over pay and working conditions.[31] CrossCountry was capable of operating only a very minimal timetable on any of the planned dates for the strikes due to the number of staff involved.[32][33]

As of May 2023, the Monday-Friday daytime services, with frequencies in trains per hour (tph), include:[36][37]

Route map (June 2019)

These services combine to provide higher frequencies between Birmingham and the following major destinations:

• Wolverhampton, Stoke-on-Trent, Macclesfield, Stockport and Manchester: two trains per hour
• Derby: at least two trains per hour
  • Sheffield, York, Darlington and Newcastle: at least one train per hour via Leeds
  • Nottingham: one train per hour
• Leicester: two trains per hour
• Leamington Spa, Oxford and Reading: two trains per hour (including one via Coventry)
• Cheltenham: three trains per hour
  • Bristol: two trains per hour

The Sunday service pattern is mostly similar to the weekday one, except that services typically do not start until late morning or early afternoon, and often have a slightly different stopping pattern. Several Bristol–Manchester trains start from Birmingham New Street on Sundays.[36][37]

Class 220 Voyager 220011 at Newton Abbot

The above table shows the basic service pattern; however, a small number of these services are extended beyond their usual destination:[36]

• from Plymouth to Penzance
• from Bristol Temple Meads to Cardiff Central, Exeter St Davids, Paignton, Plymouth and Penzance
• from Edinburgh Waverley to Dundee and Aberdeen
• from Newcastle to Edinburgh Waverley and Glasgow Central
• travelling via Crewe either in lieu of, or in addition to Stoke-on-Trent

Class 221 at Bristol Temple Meads in December 2017

CrossCountry extended some of its Bournemouth services to Weymouth for the Sailing at the 2012 Olympics & Paralympics. There were two services Monday to Saturday in each direction with one in each direction on Sundays. These ran express to Weymouth from Bournemouth. One train also operated a Weymouth to Bournemouth return journey, calling at Wareham and Poole.[38]

During December 2016, CrossCountry published a consultation document for changes to the timetable proposed to be implemented in December 2017. These included:[39]

• Extending all hourly Bristol–Manchester services to and from Exeter St Davids, providing a total of two trains per hour between Exeter and Birmingham;
• Increasing the frequency of services during peak times on several routes;
• An additional service to and from Aberdeen running in the early afternoon.

To allow these changes to take place, all CrossCountry services on some routes (which had a limited service) would be withdrawn and replaced with extra services run by other operators. These included:

• between Exeter St Davids and Paignton (except for one early-morning northbound service), replaced by Great Western Railway services;
• between Reading and Guildford, replaced by Great Western Railway services;
• between Edinburgh Waverley and Aberdeen in the morning and evening (Aberdeen would be served during the day instead), replaced by ScotRail services.[lower-alpha 1]

In April 2017, it was announced the proposed changes would not be proceeding.[40]

CrossCountry does not manage any stations, although there are stations managed by other train operating companies at which it is the only operator: five stations (Burton-on-Trent, Hinckley, Narborough, South Wigston and Willington) are managed by East Midlands Railway, while three stations (Coleshill Parkway, Water Orton and Wilnecote) are managed by West Midlands Trains. At Tamworth station, which has tracks and platforms at two levels, the high-level platforms are served only by CrossCountry, but the entire station is managed by West Midlands Trains, which serves the low-level platforms. Similarly, at Worcestershire Parkway, the low-level platforms are served only by CrossCountry, but the station is managed by Great Western Railway, which serves only the high-level platforms.

Manea was served only by CrossCountry until 2013, when Abellio Greater Anglia started running one train every two hours at the station in addition to the CrossCountry services there.

To improve the travelling experience, CrossCountry has designated four stations as alternative changeover stations: these are Cheltenham Spa, Derby, Leamington Spa and Wolverhampton. Connection times can be shorter at these smaller stations. For example, passengers travelling from Cardiff to Edinburgh could change at Cheltenham – where both their trains use the same platform – instead of Birmingham New Street, a larger, more complex station.

In September 2023, it was announced that seven Class 221 "Super Voyagers" would be transferred to CrossCountry from Avanti West Coast, following the withdrawal of its HSTs.[62]

Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Built
			mph	km/h
221 Super Voyager		DEMU	125	200	7	5	2001–2002

The last InterCity 125s were withdrawn on 18 September 2023. The last service operated was the 16:27 from Plymouth to Leeds.[63]

Family	Class	Image	Type	Top speed		Number	Carriages	Built
				mph	km/h
InterCity 125	43		Diesel locomotive	125	200	12	2+7	1976–1982
	Mark 3		Passenger carriage			40		1975–1988