CrossCountry: Government raises ‘serious concerns’ about rail operator

CrossCountry acknowledged that “service has fallen below the standards our passengers should expect from us”, in a statement given to the PA news agency.

“All too frequently, our passengers have been inconvenienced by on-the-day cancellations, which results in poor quality and reliability of service,” it said.

The statement apologised for the inconvenience the temporary timetable would cause, and said redeployed trains would ensure “97% of our normal daily number of seats” would continue to operate.

“By the end of the temporary timetable, we will have more fully-trained drivers who can work across the network,” the statement said.

The CrossCountry network spans major cities across England and into Scotland.

The operator’s services connect most of the UK’s biggest cities, including Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol, Cardiff, Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham, Newcastle and Manchester.

The Labour government has vowed to renationalise nearly all passenger rail services as existing private contracts expire.

It introduced the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill within its first month in office, before MPs left Parliament for the summer recess.

CrossCountry’s contract, agreed by the previous Conservative government, began in October last year and is due to expire on 12 October 2031.