CrossCountry
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| Franchise(s): | Cross Country 11 November 2007 – 1 April 2016 |
| Main route(s): | South West England/South East Wales - Birmingham - North East England - Central Scotland / Northern Scotland (selected services) Southern England - Birmingham - Manchester Cardiff - Birmingham - Nottingham Birmingham - Leicester - Stansted Airport |
| Fleet size: | 29 Turbostars 34 Voyagers 28 Super Voyagers 2 High Speed Trains (at present) |
| Stations called at: | 100 |
| National Rail abbreviation: | XC |
| Parent company: | Arriva plc |
| Web site: | www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/ |
CrossCountry is a train operating company, the brand name of XC Trains Limited owned by Arriva, that has operated Great Britain’s Cross Country rail franchise since 11 November 2007. The franchise was formed through the amalgamation of most of the former Cross Country franchise previously held by Virgin Trains (which consisted of inter-city services that do not terminate in London) with some of the longer-distance routes (including some former Central Citylink services) operated by the former Central Trains.
On 10 July 2007, the Department for Transport announced that Arriva plc had won the rights to the franchise.[1]
The franchise is unusual in that it does not operate any stations, even though there are certain stations served by no operator other than CrossCountry. It is also unusual in that Arriva has not applied their brand name to the franchise.
Contents |
[edit] Routes
- See also: CrossCountry Network Map
[edit] Core
The proposed hourly service from December 2008 will operate on each basic route:
| No | Route | Rolling stock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth to Edinburgh Waverley (via Leeds) | Voyagers & High Speed Trains (From mid-late 2008) | |
| 2 | Reading to Newcastle (via Doncaster) | Voyagers | |
| 3 | Bristol Temple Meads to Manchester Piccadilly | Voyagers | |
| 4 | Bournemouth to Manchester Piccadilly (via Coventry) | Voyagers | |
| 5 | Cardiff Central to Nottingham | Turbostars | |
| 6 | Birmingham New Street to Leicester and Stansted Airport | Turbostars | |
[edit] Extensions
There will also be extensions to the normal 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 will see trains to Newquay from various parts of the network.
There are also some other train services which will go from one route to another (eg. from Nottingham to Bournemouth), in order to provide more direct journeys.
[edit] Frequency
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 Birmingham: 2 trains per hour
- Cheltenham to Birmingham: 3 trains per hour
- Reading to Birmingham: 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
CrossCountry have an option to run a second train an hour between Leicester and Cambridge/Stansted Airport should demand warrant it.[citation needed]
[edit] Withdrawal of Services to Brighton
The requirement for the franchise operation did not include retaining the current services from Manchester to Brighton. As a result, these services, and services to intermediate stations on the route - Kensington Olympia, East Croydon, Redhill, Gatwick Airport and Haywards Heath - will be withdrawn in December 2008 . [2]
[edit] Performance
Initial performance figures released by the ORR rate the new operator at a similar level to their predecessor with a PPM of 86.9%[3] over the second half of the third quarter of the 2007/8 financial year.
[edit] Rolling Stock
[edit] Multiple Unit fleet
Virgin CrossCountry previously operated the Class 220 and Class 221 DEMUs. Now some 21 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 | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Unit numbers | Routes operated | Built | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | |||||||
| Class 170 Turbostar |  |
Diesel multiple unit | 100 | 160 | 29 | 170101-170117 170397-170398 170518-170523 170636-170639 |
Cardiff–Nottingham Route Birmingham–Stansted Airport Route |
1999–2002 |
| Class 220 Voyager |  |
Diesel-electric multiple unit |
125 | 200 | 34 | 220001-220034 | Cross Country Route | 2001 |
| Class 221 Super Voyager |  |
Diesel-electric multiple unit |
125 | 200 | 28 | 221114-221141 | Cross Country Route | 2001 |
[edit] HST Fleet
| Class | Image | Type | Top speed | Number | Unit numbers | Routes operated | Built | Introduced | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mph | km/h | ||||||||
| Class 43 High Speed Train |  |
Diesel locomotive | 125 | 200 | 10 | 43007/085/104/178/184/166
(43101/103/121/157) |
Cross Country Route | 1976 - 1982 | May 2008 (2x 7+2 Unrefurbished sets)
Dec 2008 (5 Refurbished sets) |
| Mark 3 coach |  |
Passenger coach | 125 | 200 | 40 | XC04/XC05
(XC03) |
Cross Country Route | 1975 - 1988 | May 2008 (2x 7+2 Unrefurbished sets)
Dec 2008 (5 Refurbished sets) |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| 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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