CrossCountry Trains
Coronavirus
A message to our customers
What you need to know
We wanted to update you on the actions we have been taking to support our customers and our people during this Coronavirus pandemic.
The Government has now asked people to ‘stay at home’, advising against making non-essential travel, but for those who still need to get from A to B, we are working really hard behind the scenes to keep trains clean and keep you up to date with the current situation.
There are also a few things you can do to help us prevent the spread of the virus:
• Wash your hands regularly with soap and water or sanitising/alcohol hand gel
• If you feel you are about to cough or sneeze, cover your mouth with a tissue, throw it away and wash your hands. Remember, ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands
• If you feel unwell and have symptoms of Coronavirus – a new, continuous cough or a high temperature – then you should avoid travelling and seek medical advice
We advise you to always check the NHS website and follow Public Health England guidelines to keep up to date with the latest information.
Our train times are changing
from Monday 23 March, we will be running fewer trains than usual. For more information and to view the revised timetables, please click here.
What We're Doing
The overall risk to anyone using a station or train is no different to that in other public space. However, to maintain this level of risk we are constantly looking at ways to prevent the spread of the virus. Here are a few of the things we are doing:
- We have reviewed the work of our train maintenance and cleaning contractors to ensure all trains are properly looked after before entering service and at the end of each day.
- We are regularly monitoring and refilling water and soap dispensers in each toilet and correctly disposing of waste.
- Any defects during a journey are reported to be rectified when the train returns to a depot in the evening.
- We have taken on additional people to help keep our trains clean during the day, and our on-board teams are helping remove rubbish and clean surfaces during journeys.
- We have reminded our people to clean surfaces regularly and the importance of maintaining good hand hygiene themselves.
- We have not advised our on-board teams to wear masks or gloves as the latest information from Public Health England is that these have little value in preventing infection.
- All our on-board teams have been fully briefed on the latest guidelines on personal hygiene.
- We have posters throughout each train reminding everyone of the NHS guidance to ‘catch it, kill it, bin it’.
On-board catering update
Catering on all our services has been temporarily suspended to give us time to fully assess and mitigate the risks associated with providing this service in the current climate. Our on-board teams will instead be focusing on helping customers and undertaking regular cleaning of tables to help keep things clean and as virus free as possible during your journey.
Need to change your travel plans?
To give our customers peace of mind about amending their journey while this situation continues, we have relaxed our refund policy to make travel easier for you. Due to high volumes refunds can take up to 28 days longer to process and our Web Support team are unable to answer calls at this time so please refer to the following guidance.
Wish to travel on a different day?
If you decide not to travel, you have a number of options, depending on your ticket type. You are now able to get a full refund on all Advance tickets, just get in touch with Web Support at sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk and we will happily arrange this. Due to high volumes refunds can take up to 56 days longer to process.
If you are travelling with CrossCountry in the next few days and wish to travel on a different day we are now accepting all tickets two days prior and two days after the date shown on your ticket, at any time of day, until further notice. If you wish to change your ticket please contact us at sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk using the subject line in your e-mail “Change my journey” with the details of when you would like to travel.
Applying for a refund
For all tickets purchased with CrossCountry using our website, mobile site or app (with the exception of Advance train tickets and Season tickets) we would ask you to apply for a refund using your online account. If for any reason you are unable to self-serve please e-mail our web support team on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk.
If you wish to apply for a refund on Advance train tickets please e-mail sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk. For tickets purchased from our website, mobile site or app, we are waiving the usual £10 charge and all refunds are now processed free of charge. You are also now able to get a refund for Advance train tickets, just e-mail Web Support on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk.
Advance train tickets bought before 07:00 on Monday 23 March are eligible for a refund providing they have not been used. Advance train tickets purchased after 07:00 on the 23rd March for travel on the reduced timetable will not be eligible for a refund but normal National Rail Conditions of Travel still apply for any disruption.
If you have a CrossCountry Season ticket, you may apply for a refund for any unused portion of the ticket which will incur the usual £10 admin fee, and in line with our standard terms and conditions. If you hold an account with us you will be able to request this via your online account. If you are unable to process yourself please contact our web support team on seasons.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk
Due to high volumes to our Web Support team we would ask customers to self-service refunds or change of journeys via their account where possible.
To achieve social distancing, and with the challenges of Coronavirus, our Customer Relations telephone lines will now be open Mon-Fri 08:00–18:00 and Sat 08:00–16:00. Passenger Assistance telephone lines will be open Mon-Fri 08:00-18:00 and Sat/Sun 08:00-16:00.
Please remember, you can also use our online contact forms to get in touch at any time - for Customer Relations please use the form here and for Passenger Assistance please use the form here.
More information on COVID-19
You can find more information on Coronavirus/COVID-19 and methods to prevent the virus spreading, together with answers to many questions you may have, using the following links: