Timetable Changes

Current Timetable Information

Our new timetable commences on Sunday 13 December. We will be continuing to operate a special timetable to keep services running throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

Your safety is our number one priority, therefore we ask that you follow our travel guidelines that adhere to both Government and industry rulings. Following the below guidelines should allow for you to travel with confidence if you plan to travel by train: 

• • Travel at quieter times if possible.
  • Reserve a seat before you travel. You can do this using our free Ten Minute Reservation service. Find out more here. 
  • Wear a face covering when passing through stations and when travelling on-board. Please visit our face covering FAQs for more information.
  • Wash your hands before and after travelling, and carry hand sanitiser where possible.

We are operating many longer trains where possible to provide up to twice the normal capacity and increasing the dwell time at key stations to allow for customers to board and alight safely. To achieve this while also maintaining the national railway timetable, a small number of stations have seen our services reduced or withdrawn to allow additional time at the more heavily used stations. Our trains continue to operate throughout the day on most routes at a reduced frequency and in some cases with a revised calling pattern.

A minimum of one train per hour operates on the following routes:

• • • Manchester Piccadilly – Reading (some trains extend to or from Bournemouth)
    • Bristol Temple Meads – Newcastle (some trains extend to or from Penzance, Plymouth, Edinburgh Waverley, Glasgow Central or Aberdeen).
    • Birmingham New Street – Leicester (some trains extend to or from Cambridge or Stansted Airport).
    • Nottingham – Birmingham New Street (some trains extend to or from Cardiff Central).

Only a very limited CrossCountry service calls at:

No CrossCountry services call at the following stations:

Other train companies’ trains continue to serve these stations.

Train Timetables

Some last trains may be earlier than normal and we recommend you check your journey before you travel by using National Rail Enquiries, our Train Tickets app, or viewing our timetables below:

Saturday 21 November - Sunday 22 November - Birmingham New Street to Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted Airport

Saturday 21 November - Sunday 22 November - All other routes

Until 11 December 2020 - Birmingham New Street to Leicester, Cambridge and Stansted Airport

Until 11 December 2020 - All other routes

Route Map from Monday 21 September (note - services at weekends may also be affected by engineering work)

Download the map here (PDF)

Passenger Assist

We are still operating both booked and un-booked Passenger Assistance services for those passengers that require this, although we are encouraging customers to book ahead so we can ensure the correct provision of assistance is provided.

It will really help us to plan and make sure you receive the correct help if you pre-book your assistance. When you contact our Passenger Assistance team they may ask you some extra questions so that we can ensure that we balance your needs with the opportunity to respect social distancing requirements, so please allow a little more time to make your booking.

If you have not pre-booked assistance, please allow extra time for your journey and follow signage and instructions from station and train staff.

CrossCountry are supporting the National Rail Industry Hidden Disabilities Sunflower Scheme. Not all disabilities are visible and some won’t be immediately obvious to our colleagues on-board our trains. The Hidden Disability Sunflower, which is usually worn in the form of a lanyard, is a discreet way for us to be aware that support may be required from us throughout a customer’s journey. If you would like to obtain a lanyard, you can get one from most staffed stations or online via the scheme. We appreciate that if you are already part of this scheme, wearing a face covering may not be possible. If you need more information referring to this, please follow the guidance provided on GovUK, which can be found here.

Ticket arrangements

If you are making a journey with us we strongly advise that you book a seat on the train, as availability is limited due to social distancing. If you don’t book a seat, you may not be able to travel on your preferred service. You can book your seat when you book online with us or when you buy your train ticket.

If you already have a ticket but do not have a seat reserved for your chosen train, or need to amend your booked seat, please contact our Customer Relations team on 03447 369 123 or contact our Social Media team via Twitter or Facebook Messenger

If you have any queries and your travel is within the next week, you can also tweet us @CrossCountryUK or message us via Facebook Messenger, where we are available 24 hours a day.

Please note that weekend upgrades are currently not available to purchase whilst on board. We hope to be able to reinstate this in the near future.

Advance booking dates

Please note, due to an update to our internal reservation systems, we are currently running a reduced advance booking window. We are working hard on a daily basis to open bookings back up again, the table below provides the latest date you are currently able to book to. We apologise for any inconvenience caused, please check back for updates.

*Birmingham - Stansted tickets for 28 December are currently unavailable, and tickets for some services on 24 December and 01 January are not yet available for purchase. These should become available by the end of next week.

(last updated: 18:00 Sunday 22 November)