Keeping you safe - latest travel advice

To support the return of schools, colleges and universities from Monday 8 March, our regional teams have evaluated where we feel there might be hotspots for travel across our network and strengthened services (Monday – Friday). This means that with added demand, there will be additional carriages to some of our services to allow for social distancing on-board where possible. We will be continuing to monitor this closely over the coming weeks and making additional changes where needed.

The tables below show our daily Monday – Friday Voyager Trains that from Monday 8 March will have extra seating capacity available.

Northbound

Southbound

For tickets purchased with CrossCountry using our website, mobile site or Train Tickets app please see the table below. Otherwise, please contact your original retailer.

Please note, refunds can take up to 5 working days to process once received by our team.

Season tickets can be refunded at any time, but there must be at least three days remaining on a weekly Season ticket, or seven days remaining on a monthly or longer Season ticket to obtain a refund. Refunds are not pro-rata as the unit cost of a Season ticket decreases as the period of validity increases. Annual Season tickets have little to no refund value if they have been used for more than 10 months, 12 days.

For more information and to see how much you could get back for your Season ticket, visit the National Rail website and use the Season Ticket Refund Calculator tool.

To request a refund for your Season ticket please contact our Web Support team on seasons.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk.

If you have a paper ticket and wish to make a refund please contact our Web Support team on sales.support.crosscountry@trainsfares.co.uk address only and they will provide directions on how to process. This will include a photograph of your paper ticket cut diagonally in half.

After careful consideration, the government has confirmed that Railcards will remain non-refundable and will not be extended.

Due to the period of ‘essential travel only’ government messaging, National Rail Vouchers that have an expiry date between 20 October 2020 - 30 June 2021, may be accepted for a maximum of 6 months after the original expiry date. For example a National Rail Travel Voucher that expires on 30 June 2021, may continue to be used up to and including 30 December 2021.

National Rail Travel Vouchers must not be exchanged for cash. 

Station staff are still available for advice and there is Help points at non staffed stations. If you require "live" help whilst travelling you can contact our customer relations by telephone: 03447 369 123 (Monday - Friday: 08:00-18:00, Saturday - Sunday: 08:00-16:00) or our Social Media team on Facebook via CrossCountry Trains or Twitter @crosscountryuk available 24/7. On board staff are also there to help during your journey.

We are still operating both booked and un-booked Passenger Assistance services for those passengers that require this. For information please view here.

Customers must reserve a seat before they travel to ensure that they can board the service that they want to travel on.  If you try to reserve a seat and there is not one available this will indicate that the train is fully reserved under the social distancing measures. Therefore you will be directed to a service that still has availability. 

If you arrive at the station without a reservation and the train is deemed too full to board, you can get your ticket endorsed by station staff to travel on the next available service. We also advise you to use our Ten Minute reservation service to reserve a seat on the next available train.

Customer are asked to avoid the last service of the day unless they have reserved a seat on that service or are unable to travel any earlier. 

If the last service is too busy too board and you are at a manned station, our staff can support alternative arrangements with you.

To reduce psychical contact, cash is not accepted on-board and we are encouraging customers to use contactless payments.

Before travelling you must check your journey in line with national restrictions. For cross-border travel please view England, Scotland and Wales government websites for travel guidance and advice. Please be aware that restrictions may vary from where you are travelling from to where you are travelling to. 

If you have any other queries that do not relate to an existing booking our Customer Relations team are here to help. To achieve social distancing, and with the challenges of Coronavirus, our Customer Relations telephone lines are now open Monday- Friday: 08:00 –18:00 Saturday-Sunday 08:00-16:00. Passenger Assistance telephone lines will be open Sunday - Saturday 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.

The Government’s instructions state that a face covering is a cloth that should “cover your mouth and nose while allowing you to breathe comfortably. It can be as simple as a scarf or bandana that ties behind the head.”

We want people to wear face coverings from when they enter a station all the way through their journey, including exiting the station at the other end. If people are then moving onto the bus, tram or tube, they should avoid taking off their face covering while they interchange to avoid touching their face or mouth unnecessarily.

We encourage passengers to use reusable face coverings where possible as these are better for the environment. If you have a disposable face covering then please take it home to dispose of it or put it in the normal bins available on stations at the end of your journey.

We are confident that the vast majority of people are going to want to do the right thing and help protect others by bringing and wearing a face covering while in stations and on trains. Please also be aware that some passengers may not be able to wear as mask due to medical issues. Regardless of whether someone is wearing a mask, people should keep their distance – at least two metres, if possible.

Yes. For example, the wearing of face coverings is already mandatory on Eurostar trains.

Children under 11 are not required to wear face coverings.

No. We are doing this to further reduce the risk of infection. Used properly, face coverings can help prevent the spread of the disease. Social distancing and good hand hygiene are still very important.

You can still use public transport. We want people to be able to travel with dignity and our staff will act considerately towards those who cannot wear a mask due to their disability.

The requirement to wear a face covering also does not apply if you have a reasonable excuse not to. Reasonable excuses include:

• • if you have a physical or mental illness or impairment, or a disability that means you cannot put on, wear or remove a face covering.
  • if putting on, wearing or removing a face covering would cause you severe distress.
  • if you are travelling with, or providing assistance to, someone who relies on lip reading to communicate.
  • if you are travelling to avoid injury or escape the risk of harm, and you do not have a face covering with you
  • if you need to remove it during your journey to avoid harm or injury or the risk of harm or injury to yourself or others
  • if you need to eat, drink, or take medication you can remove your face covering
  • if you are asked to remove your face covering by a police officer or other official, for example to check your railcard.

Our colleagues are also aware of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower scheme, and will be able to offer assistance when required. For more information on being exempt from wearing a face covering, please visit the Gov UK website here.

Rail staff engage and educate customers about the mandatory use of face coverings when they travel by train and encourage people to wear them. The vast majority of people do the right thing and help protect others by bringing and wearing a face covering while in stations and on trains. Unless they have a good reason, those that don’t wear a face covering could receive a maximum fine of £6,400 from the British Transport Police.

Some people may not be able to wear a face covering due to medical conditions which may not always be apparent. Please do not confront other passengers. Anyone that isn’t exempt from wearing a face covering can be issued with a £6,400 maximum fine from the British Transport Police.