Monday 21 April 2008
To ensure a comfortable journey during this busy period, customers are strongly advised to take advantage of complimentary seat reservations when buying tickets in advance, and to book their journey as soon as possible to secure the best deals and journey availability. Reservations are now
open for CrossCountry services throughout the holiday period. Saver tickets will be valid for travel at any time from Saturday 24 until Monday 26 May inclusive and Weekend First Upgrades are available from as little as £10 during this time.
Ample storage space for medium sized suitcases and large bags is available on overhead luggage racks throughout each carriage and space between and underneath seats is perfect for small bags. All customers will enjoy a more comfortable journey by not placing luggage in the aisles, vestibules or special needs area, or on adjacent seats.
During the holiday period Network Rail engineers will be carrying out essential engineering work to upgrade the network. This may require alterations to services and for some trains to be replaced by coaches on which all valid tickets for that route will be accepted. Any disruption will be kept to an absolute minimum, but customers are advised to check travel details in advance by calling the National Rail Enquiry Service oN 08457 484950 or by visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk
Full normal services will be provided by CrossCountry from Tuesday 27 May except for its hourly services between the West Midlands and Manchester Piccadilly, which will continue to be diverted via Wilmslow until Sunday 1 June. Journey times, however, will remain unaffected.
Engineering work between Stoke-on-Trent and Macclesfield from Saturday 24 May until Sunday 1 June will mean the diversion of CrossCountry's hourly services between the West Midlands and Manchester Piccadilly via Wilmslow, although journey times remain unaffected.
For customers travelling north, special replacement coaches will run between Stoke-on-Trent, Congleton and Macclesfield to connect with trains to Manchester Piccadilly.
For those travelling south, coaches will run between Macclesfield and Wilmslow and between Macclesfield, Congleton and Stoke-on-Trent to connect with trains to the south. Also, early morning coaches will run from Stoke-on-Trent to Stafford to connect with southbound trains.
On Saturday 24 and Monday 26 May, CrossCountry services between Bristol Temple Meads and Newcastle will start from and terminate at Sheffield from where replacement coach services will run to and from Meadowhall for connecting trains to and from Doncaster, Leeds and Newcastle. CrossCountry services to and from Scotland will be diverted and will not call at Sheffield.
On Sunday 25 May, trains will be unable to call at Chesterfield and replacement coaches will link Chesterfield with Derby.
On 24, 25 and 26 May, replacement coach services will link Birmingham New Street and stations to Leicester for connecting trains to and from Stansted Airport.
On Sunday 25 May, trains between Wolverhampton and Birmingham New Street will be diverted from their direct route, adding around 15 minutes to journey times.
On Sunday 25 May, trains will be diverted via Solihull and not call at Coventry and Birmingham International. Replacement coaches will run between Leamington Spa and Coventry.
On Saturday 24 May, the last train of the day to Bristol Temple Meads will be diverted from Gloucester via Swindon and Bath Spa and not call at Bristol Parkway. A replacement coach will run from Gloucester to Bristol Parkway. On Sunday 25 May, the first two trains of the day will be
diverted via Bath Spa and Swindon to Gloucester, extending journey times by 45 minutes. Replacement coaches will link Bristol Parkway and Gloucester.
On Sunday 25 May, trains will be diverted via Kensington Olympia and not call at Guildford.
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 www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk
STATIONS SERVED: 131
ROUTE MILES: 1,654
WEEKDAY SERVICES: 288
PASSENGERS CARRIED: Over 30 million passenger journeys a year anticipated
ANNUAL TRAIN MILEAGE: Approximately 16 million
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 1,800
LONGEST TRAIN SERVICE: Penzance to Dundee (701 miles)
CrossCountry is part of the Arriva group which operates transport services in 12 European
countries, employs more than 38,000 people and provides more than one billion passenger
journeys every year. For more information about the Arriva group visit www.arriva.co.uk
Select this link to view the Press Release PDF
If your browser does not recognise the file type PDF a free Adobe Acrobat Reader can be downloaded from the Adobe website.
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
Train operator CrossCountry will introduce temporary resource-led reductions to its timetable from Saturday 10 August until Saturday 9 November to address performance and reliability issues that have inconvenienced passengers with on-the-day cancellations.
Read More
Train operator CrossCountry will introduce temporary resource-led reductions to its timetable from Saturday 10 August until Saturday 9 November to address performance and reliability issues that have inconvenienced passengers with on-the-day cancellations.
Read More
Train operator CrossCountry will introduce temporary resource-led reductions to its timetable from Saturday 10 August until Saturday 9 November to address performance and reliability issues that have inconvenienced passengers with on-the-day cancellations.
Read More
