Service Quality Report
Welcome to CrossCountry’s Service Quality Report for 2023/24, covering the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. This provides an overview of our customer experience processes and our performance against key indicators.
This has been developed in accordance with Article 28 of the PRO Regulation requirements.
More information about our work can be found in our latest Customer Report, available here.
Information and Tickets
Provision of travel information during the journey
Information about the train journey is provided by our on-board colleagues before and after each station stop, when there is key information to share such as a change to the journey time.
Our onboard colleagues regularly walk through the train during the journey and are happy to answer any question you may have. Information is also provided through the public address system to inform you of upcoming stations, facilities and any changes to journey expectations.
Live travel information is also available through our Wi-Fi landing page, website and Train Tickets app.
Confirmation of the train service is provided on the train exterior screens and on the passenger information screens in the carriage.
Information about the facilities available at each station we call at are available on our website or by contacting our Social Media or Customer Relations teams.
We provide each company that manages the stations with information about our services, customer charter and other useful information such as accessibility. This ensures station staff have all the information they need to be able to advise our customers.
We meet with the Station Management teams regularly to understand what types of enquiries our customers make, what further information would be useful and to make sure station leaflet and poster space is kept up to date.
It’s easy to create your own timetable using the pocket timetable feature or to view our timetables as a PDF. Using the live journey planner on our website and Train Ticket app makes it simple to see what options are available. This information is also available from station staff, our Social Media team and Customer Relations team.
Fares information is provided when you search for train tickets or by talking to a member of station staff, our Social Media team or Customer Relations team.
Platform information is provided in our live train information on the Train Tickets app and via the station information screens.
Tickets can be bought via our Train Tickets app, our website, by calling telesales (03447369123), at the station ticket office or ticket vending machines and through our Passenger Assistance team when making an assistance booking (see our Accessible Travel Policy for more information). Information about station facilities can be found here.
Information about station facilities is available on our stations pages or by contacting our Social Media team or Customer Relations.
Our Accessible Travel Policy and Making Rail Accessible guide details available information for disabled customers and those who require assistance.
Our Social Media team ensure changes to accessible facilities on the train and at the station are highlighted on our JourneyCheck page and through Twitter and Facebook.
As well as our Passenger Assistance team, who help customers book the right assistance for them, our on-board colleagues are trained to identify customers needing additional support.
Our customer leaflet, Making Rail Accessible provides a practical guide, explaining what we do to assist older and disabled customers who travel with us and the standards of service they can reasonably expect. It is available at all staffed stations which we serve and on our website: crosscountrytrains.co.uk/accessibletravel
In this document, we provide information to help you understand how we plan to meet your expectations when you are travelling with CrossCountry. We will explain how to find details of the assistance available, facilities and information you will need to help you to plan your journey.
Punctuality of services
| Long Distance | Turbostar Routes | |
| Average delay by Services Planned in minutes | 6 |
4 3 |
| % of services less than 60 minutes (Origin/Departure) | 77.60% | 86.12% |
| % of services 60 to 119 minutes (Origin/Departure) | 0.14% | 0.05% |
| % of services greater than 120 minutes (Origin/Departure) | 0.01% | 0.00% |
| % of services less than 60 minutes (Arrive/Terminate) | 83.00% | 85.29% |
| % of services 60 to 119 minutes (Arrive/Terminate) | 0.16% | 0.05% |
| % of services greater than 120 minutes (Arrive/Terminate) | 0.01% | 0.00% |
| % of missed connections | Data not available* | Data not available* |
| Cancellation of Services | 12.78% |
9.84% |
*CrossCountry do not capture this information in any reporting systems.
Passenger Information During Disruption (PIDD) is a coordinated approach by the rail industry to enable the timely and reassuring provision of correct and consistent information to passengers during major disruption/delays so that they can make well-informed travel decisions. The industry has agreed a Code of Practice that sets out high-level guidance about generic good practice for the provision of information to passengers during disruption; a framework that individual train operators can tailor according to local circumstances. This Code of Practice can be found below, together with our 'PIDD Local Plan' which is our approach to ensuring the PIDD Code of Practice is delivered for our customers.
In addition, we are working with other industry partners to deliver against a set of customer pledges regarding customer information. These can be viewed here.
Cleanliness of rolling stock and station facilities
All trains go through a deep clean process at the end of each day, with regular cleaning throughout our fleet's service. We have increased staffing levels to help keep our trains clean during the day and our on-board cleaners clean the equivalent of 264 football pitches every day. We have introduced more frequent walk-throughs to clean surfaces on a more regular basis and have ensured our team are fully aware of the importance of maintaining good hygiene themselves.
Our toilets are cleaned and maintained when at the depot overnight and any toilets not available when the train starts its journey or during the journey are locked and marked 'out of use', this is communicated to our Control Centre. This ensures we can report the issue to the train maintainers, cleaners and to our customers via the JourneyCheck web pages. We aim to fix any issues as soon as possible.
While key industry research programmes have been paused, we have worked hard to continue to measure key aspects of our service. This insight allows us to better focus on the issues that matter to customers most and forms the basis of our period business planning
| Measure | Score | Source | Notes | |
| Customer Satisfaction Survey |
Punctuality of trains (9,853 responses) |
55% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | % customers that did not experience a delay |
|
Information to passengers in case of delays (3,447) |
28% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | % customers stating delay had been handled fairly well or very well | |
|
Consistently good maintenance/excellent condition of trains (9,853) |
48% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | % satisfied or very satisfied with the upkeep and repair of the train | |
|
High level of security on train/in station (9,853) |
66% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | Newly added question. No data available yet. | |
|
Cleanliness of the inside of the train (9,853) |
51% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | % satisfied or very satisfied with the cleanliness of the inside of the train | |
|
Provision of useful information throughout the journey (9,853) |
56% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | % satisfied or very satisfied with provision of information throughout the journey | |
|
Availability of good quality toilets on every train (9,853) |
38% | CrossCountry Customer Experience Survey | % satisfied or very satisfied for toilet facilities on-board |
Complaint handling refunds and compensation for non-compliance with service quality standards
Our complaints handling policy which forms our commitment to customers when they need redress, can be viewed here.
The number of complaints received between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 was 13,584.
| 1 | Your personal security on board |
| 2 | Sufficient room for all passengers to sit/stand |
| 3 | Facilities on board |
| 4 | Level of Delay Repay compensation |
| 5 | Punctuality/reliability (i.e. the train arriving/departing on time) |
The percentage of complaints processed between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024:
- Average 88.5% within 20 working days.
- Average 47.01% within 10 working days.
| Percentage of complaints responded to within 10 working days | Percentage of complaints responded to within 20 working days | |
| 1 | 80.28% | 94.42% |
| 2 | 69.16% | 95.45% |
| 3 | 69.27% | 94.30% |
| 4 | 49.41% | 96.86% |
| 5 | 34.17% | 88.40% |
| 6 | 64.49% | 91.07% |
| 7 | 76.09% | 93.70% |
| 8 | 66.67% | 94.47% |
| 9 | 17.36% | 93.27% |
| 10 | 15.05% | 88.74% |
| 11 | 7.56% | 77.22% |
| 12 | 14.90% | 74.38% |
| 13 | 46.73% | 81.11% |
The average response time between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 was 13.3 days for complaints.
Every six months we publish a Customer Report to share with you and our progress delivering the promises to make your journeys even better. Included in this report is commentary on our last 6 months performance and how we are continuing to make your journey better.
Assistance provided to disabled persons and persons with reduced mobility
We provide a booking facility for customers who need assistance on their journey using the industry Passenger Assistance platform. Although we do not directly provide assistance at most stations, we do support customers at unmanned stations or when something has gone wrong. We work closely with stations teams to improve our assistance provision.
| Category | Total | Caveat |
| Total number of Passenger Assistance bookings (01/04/2023 – 31/03/2023) | 47,529 | |
| Un-booked assistance - not recorded as we don't operate stations | 1,318 | An underestimation, but reflect those booked through staff PA app and in person bookings |
| Incomplete bookings(01/04/2023 - 31/03/2024) | 2,997 | Incomplete Bookings include failed assistance due to disruption, no staff available, not requested within the booking window and where there has been no wheelchair space on-board due to availability. |
For more information about any aspect of our performance please view our Key Performance Indicators.