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Air passengers beat air problems by rail

Thursday 22 April 2010

After an eerie week when skies across Britain fell silent, a train operator has been praised for helping keep the country and the economy moving as the volcano ash cloud caused travel chaos.

 

Passengers reverted back to travelling by train as the good old, steadfast British attitude gripped the nation.

Andy Cooper, Managing Director at CrossCountry, the country's most extensive rail franchise said: "There has been an odd sense of nostalgia during the past week and the passengers have become stoic about getting where they need to be without flying. They very much reverted back to travelling by train as the British 'Keep Calm and Carry On' attitude gripped the nation.

"People are rediscovering using the railway and talking about it in an extremely positive way. We have seen 15,000 extra journeys over the past week on routes which are usually popular flight paths. We hope their experiences have revived their enjoyment of rail travel and will now consider travelling by train over flying in the future.

Amongst the many messages of thanks from people who travelled on CrossCountry services was a letter from a mother in Scotland who was unable to fly her children back to Birmingham International Airport. She told CrossCountry "I was extremely anxious about putting them on the train alone, but by all accounts they were looked after superbly and thoroughly enjoyed the trip. My daughter now wants to go every time on the train and I will now consider using cross country trains again when I bring them to Scotland for future visits."

Please find notes to editors, CrossCountry facts and figures below.

For more information feel free to contact us on 0121 2006115 or by email


Notes to editors

CrossCountry started operating on 11 November 2007. The franchise, which is the most extensive in the UK, will run until 31 March 2016. For further information on CrossCountry services and future franchise plans log on to crosscountrytrains.co.uk

CrossCountry is now live on Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains.

CrossCountry operate from Penzance to Scotland, Cardiff to Stansted and Manchester to Bournemouth.

Arriva is one of the largest private sector providers of passenger transport in Europe, employing more than 43,500 people (including share of associate companies) and providing more than one billion passenger journeys every year.

Arriva provides transport services including buses, trains, commuter coaches and water buses, and operates in 12 European countries: Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the UK.

CrossCountry facts and figures:

STATIONS SERVED: 118
ROUTE MILES: 1,478
WEEKDAY SERVICES: 295
PASSENGERS CARRIED: Over 30 million passenger journeys a year anticipated
ANNUAL TRAIN MILEAGE: Approximately 16 million
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 1,600
LONGEST TRAIN SERVICE: 08.20 Aberdeen to Penzance (773 miles

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Contact Information

CrossCountry Press Office: [email protected]


About CrossCountry

CrossCountry is a long-distance passenger train operator, with a network stretching from Aberdeen to Penzance and from Stansted to Cardiff and calling at over 100 stations. Based in Birmingham, CrossCountry connects seven of Britain’s 10 largest cities and delivers 240 services every weekday, equating to over 42 million passenger journeys each year.

For further information on CrossCountry services, visit crosscountrytrains.co.uk or visit one of our social media platforms via X @crosscountryuk or Facebook at facebook.com/crosscountrytrains

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