Bristol and Manchester linked every two hours

This follows the Department for Transport's reshaping of rail franchises in which Birmingham to Scotland services via Preston transferred to Virgin Trains and those between Manchester and Scotland to TransPennine Express. Customers travelling from south of Birmingham to West Coast stations between Crewe and Glasgow Central will need to change at Birmingham New Street.

Direct CrossCountry trains from stations south of Birmingham to Scotland via York and Newcastle will continue to run, as will the remainder of CrossCountry services between Cardiff, Birmingham, Derby and Nottingham and between Birmingham, Leicester, Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

On weekdays, the 08:20 CrossCountry train from Aberdeen will be routed to serve Newcastle, York, Sheffield and Derby and will be extended from Birmingham New Street to Coventry, Oxford, Reading, Southampton Central and Bournemouth. Northbound, the 07:30 service from Bournemouth will be extended from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

On Saturdays, an extra return service between Birmingham and Reading will increase the number of trains to 29 northbound and 28 southbound.

On Sundays, two-hourly services will link Manchester and Bournemouth and also Manchester and Bristol and the south-west. Additionally trains will run every other hour between Edinburgh, York and Bournemouth and between Edinburgh, York, Bristol and the south-west. Hourly services will link Newcastle and Bristol and also Birmingham and Reading with some extended to Glasgow, Aberdeen, Cardiff, Gatwick Airport and Brighton.

Customers are advised to check details of train times by calling the National Rail Enquiry Service on 08457 484950 or visiting www.nationalrail.co.uk.

For more information please contact the CrossCountry Press Office on 0121 654 7010.

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 www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk

CrossCountry facts and figures

STATIONS SERVED: 124
ROUTE MILES: 1,654
WEEKDAY SERVICES: 279
PASSENGERS CARRIED: Over 30 million passenger journeys a year anticipated
EMPLOYEES: Approximately 1,800
LONGEST TRAIN SERVICE: Penzance to Dundee (701 miles)
CrossCountry is part of the Arriva group which operates transport services in nine European countries, employs more than 37,000 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.

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