CrossCountry

CrossCountry

Franchise(s):	Cross Country 11 November 2007 – 1 April 2016
Main route(s):	Penzance/Plymouth - Bristol - Birmingham - Newcastle - Glasgow/Edinburgh - Aberdeen Bournemouth - Birmingham - Manchester Reading - Birmingham - Newcastle Cardiff - Birmingham - Nottingham Birmingham - Leicester - Stansted Airport
Fleet size:	29 Turbostars 34 Voyagers 23 Super Voyagers 5 High Speed Trains (5 in use)
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 plc
Web site:	www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/

CrossCountry 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.

Formation

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,^[1] with the company taking control on 11 November 2007.

Routes

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 expresses.

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.

Core

The hourly service operates on each basic route:

Route map

Extensions

There are extensions to the basic service pattern:

• to Penzance from Plymouth
• to Glasgow Central from Edinburgh Waverley
• to Aberdeen from Edinburgh Waverley
• to Cardiff Central from Bristol Temple Meads
• to Paignton from Bristol Temple Meads
• to Guildford from Reading
• to Bournemouth from Reading

Summer Saturdays see trains to Newquay from various parts of the network.

Frequency

Class 220 No. 220011 at Newton Abbot

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:

• Bristol to Cheltenham: 2 trains per hour
• Cheltenham to Birmingham: 3 trains per hour
• Reading to Leamington: 2 trains per hour
• Birmingham to Derby: 4 trains per hour
• Derby to Sheffield: 2 trains per hour
• York to Newcastle: 2 trains per hour
• Birmingham to Leicester: 2 trains per hour
• Birmingham to Manchester: 2 trains per hour

Services withdrawn or transferred

All of the services operated via the West Coast Mainline by the previous Cross Country franchisee, Virgin Trains, passed to other operators: trains between Manchester and Scotland transfered 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.^[2]

Class 220 at Birmingham New Street

Future services

Two Class 221 coupled at Bristol Temple Meads

Plans were included by CrossCountry to reopen the railway station at Kenilworth. In April 2008, they agreed with Warwickshire county council to draw up a business case^[3].

There are proposals for a station at Worcester (Norton) Parkway near the city of Worcester, which is currently by-passed by CrossCountry's trains. If this station is built, then it may be served by CrossCountry services.

Furthermore CrossCountry wish to extend their Birmingham New Street to Leicester services to Cambridge.^[4] Also the operator has ambitions to increase frequency on its Bournemouth to Reading route to every 30 minutes by extending its Reading to Newcastle service to Bournemouth.^[5]

Performance

Latest performance figures released by the ORR rate the new operator somewhat better than their predecessor with a PPM of 91.3%^[6] over the first quarter of the 2009/10 financial year and a Monthly Annual Average (MAA) up to 30 June 2009 of 90.2%.

Criticism

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 has left the company struggling to accommodate peak loads on popular services or the ongoing growth in passenger numbers.^[7] It also led to the withdrawal of services from previously-served destinations such as Poole^[8] as the company concentrated its rolling stock on its core network.

The now defunct Strategic Rail Authority refused to underwrite the cost of Virgin Trains ordering additional rolling stock. CrossCountry has since added five refurbished high speed train set to its fleet. The removal of on-board shops to create additional luggage space has attracted criticism from passengers and MPs in the Westcountry.^[9][10]

Rolling stock

Multiple unit fleet

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 are undergoing refurbishment at Bombardier, Derby. This includes removing the shop and adding extra luggage space. The refurbishment was completed in August 2009.

HST fleet

Refurbished Mark 3 Trailer Standard vehicle No. 42290

The Interior of the Mark 3 First Class coach

The interior of Standard Class aboard the Mark 3 TS vehicle

The first CrossCountry-livered 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.

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

See also

• Arriva Trains Wales
• Arriva

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: CrossCountry

• CrossCountry official website
• Arriva corporate website
• Central Trains Remapping
• Briefing Document